Search our records : Reginald Prince Miller

Reginald Miller was born in Beer in 1881, the son of Henry Miller, a fisherman, and his wife Flora. In 1891, the family lived in Fore Street, Beer.

Reg became a fisherman like his father, and joined the Royal Naval Reserve on 19^th December 1900.  His RNR record shows him as 5ft 6ins tall, with hazel eyes and a fair complexion.  At the time he was employed fishing in the ‘Loyal Briton’ (E24).

He was called up on 3^rd August 1914, and joined HMS Albion (see separate panel), remaining until May 1916.  While Albion was supporting the Allied landings in the Dardanelles, Reg worked on shore (‘Beach Duties’ appears on his RNR record) from early August to mid-October 1916.

After a spell at HMS Vivid (Plymouth) from May to August 1916, Reg joined the minesweeper HT [Hired Trawler] Pelagos, based in the Firth of Forth, on which he spent the remainder of the war. 

On 8^th April 1919 he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal ‘For Services with the Auxiliary Patrol between the 1^st July and 11^th November 1918’.  This covers his period serving on the Pelagos, and appears to relate to this period devoted to the dangerous work of minesweeping.

He was demobilised on 19^th March 1919.

Reg died in 1960, aged 79.