MILES, Herbert William
| Service Number: | 748 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 1st Divisional Train |
| Born: | 1890, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Violet Town, Strathbogie, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Violet Town State School |
| Occupation: | Baker |
| Died: | 1951, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne |
| Memorials: | Euroa Telegraph Park, Violet Town A.N.A. Branch No 204 Honor Roll, Violet Town Honour Roll WW1, Violet Town St Dunstan's Honor Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, 748 | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Driver, 748, 1st Divisional Train, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Driver, 748, 1st Divisional Train, HMAT Benalla, Melbourne |
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MILES Herbert William 748 PTE
4th Field Bakery
1890-1951
Herbert (Bert) William was three years older than his brother George with nine surviving siblings, mostly girls, all living in the Tulip Street cottage with their parents William Jasper and Sarah (White). Although Bert’s name does not appear on the State School Honour Board, this is where he would have been educated as the school was almost directly opposite their home.
After leaving school he must have worked as a baker as this is the occupation he stated on his enlistment papers. He was 21 when he enlisted on 22 August 1914 and embarked on HMAT Ion 19 October, bound for Alexandria.
When Bert enlisted at the age of 24 he was initially admitted to the 3rd Light Horse. He was part of the early landing on Gallipoli and remained throughout the whole campaign until December 1915. His next posting was to Matruh, west of Alexandria where he remained until June of the following year when he is reported as being admitted as ‘sick’ to 3rd AGH at Rouen. On 9 August he was taken on strength of the Australian Training Depot at Etaples, from where he was discharged to the Australian General Base Depot (AGBD) at Etaples. He remained until his early return to Australia aboard Port Hacking.
Bert was discharged on 19 April 1919.
In 1920 he married Florence Linda Swan, had one son, John (Jackie) Alan Miles and bought a shop at 350 Punt Road Sth Yarra. Many ‘corner shops’ had residences upstairs and this would have proved very handy for the little family. In the late 1950s they sold the shop and moved to Nicholson Street, Sth Yarra. They remained there until Florence pre-deceased Bert in 1958; Bert continued to live at Nicholson Street until his death in 1951.
Both Bert and Florence were cremated at Springvale Botanical Cemetery but as the ashes were scattered there is no known permanent marker.
Service Medals: 1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal
Memorials: Main Honour Board, Memorial Hall, Violet Town
St Dunstan’s Anglican Church
Copper Plaques affixed to exterior wall of Memorial Hall
Tree no 51 - Acer negundo - Box Elder – was planted in 1917 by his father, William Jasper Miles.
In 2013 it was still standing and was tended by his grandniece, Yvonne Hargreaves.
© 2016 Sheila Burnell
Click images to start slideshow.