MILES, Neville John
| Service Number: | S/9747 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 September 1944 |
| Last Rank: | Able Seaman |
| Last Unit: | HMAS Rushcutter (Shore) |
| Born: | Macksville, New South Wales, Australia, 15 December 1926 |
| Home Town: | Macksville, Nambucca Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | St. Patricks Catholic School, Macksville, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Greengocer |
| Died: | Natural causes, Macksville, New South Wales, Australia, 27 June 2015, aged 88 years |
| Cemetery: |
Macksville General Cemetery, New South Wales Buried with his wife Beryl who died the following year in 2016. |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 27 Sep 1944: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Able Seaman, S/9747 | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Mar 1945: | Transferred Royal Australian Navy, Ordinary Seaman, HMAS Melville, Neville Miles was based in Darwin for the majority of his service in the Royal Australian Navy. Initially at HMAS Melville, working on the Darwin Harbour boom net. | |
| 15 Jul 1945: | Transferred Royal Australian Navy, Ordinary Seaman, HMAS Kookaburra, Still responsible for patrolling and monitoring the Darwin Harbour boom net, Neville was transferred to the defence vessel HMAS Kookaburra. | |
| 20 Nov 1945: | Transferred Royal Australian Navy, Ordinary Seaman, HMAS Melville, After four months serving on HMAS Kookaburra, Neville returned to the Darwin base HMAS Melville for his final period of service on the Darwin Harbour boom net. | |
| 4 Oct 1946: | Transferred Royal Australian Navy, Ordinary Seaman, HMAS Rushcutter (Shore), After a brief period in early 1946 at HMAS Penguin, HMAS Moreton, and on the then Sydney Harbour tender HMAS Adelaide, Neville Miles was transferred to the naval base HMAS Rushcutter for the remainder of his service. He was discharged the following month. | |
| 22 Nov 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Navy, Able Seaman, S/9747 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Matthew Rutkin
Neville John Miles was the sixth of seven children, and youngest son of Bertie Augustus Miles and his wife Ethel Clough of Macksville.
Neville was 17 years old when he enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy. He listed his mother Ethel as next of kin.
After initial training at HMAS Cerberus in Victoria, Neville spent the majority of his naval service in the Northern Territory at Darwin, as part of the Darwin Harbour boom net operations.
Neville remained in the navy for over a year after the war ended, finishing up at HMAS Rushcutter in Sydney. He was 19 years old when discharged.
On 3 January 1948, the 21 year old Neville John Miles married 20 year old Beryl Carmel McCudden at Macksville. They raised a family of four children together.
Neville was 88 when he died at Macksville in 2015.
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