William John. He was born in 1901 in Portsmouth and joined the Royal Navy in 1923. He served on various ships during the 1920s and 1930s including “Yarmouth”, “London” and “Cairo”. He received his LS&GC in 1938 whilst serving on HMS Fowey (a Shoreham class sloop) and was rated as Chief Stoker in 1939. From April to June 1940 he served briefly on HMS Enterprise which took part in the Norwegian campaign. After this, he served on HMS L’Incomprise until July 1941; this was a captured French torpedo boat (and is the last ship noted on his service record). He was awarded a British Empire Medal in 1944 – the citation from the London Gazette is given below. The vessel he helped to save was the MV Port Fairy which was en route to West Africa with a cargo of ammunition. After the convoy of which Port Fairy was part was attacked by Fw 200 Condors, HMS Swale was tasked with escorting Port Fairy to Casablanca. On the following day, these two ships were attacked by Fw 200 Condors and Port Fairy was hit by a bomb which started a fire. The crew of HMS Swale dowsed the fire with her hoses.
CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD.
St. James's Palace, S.W.1. 29th February, 1944.
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the British Empire Medal (Military Division) to:
Chief Stoker William John Miller, P/K.60891 (Fareham, Hampshire), for courage, skill and devotion to duty in charge of a fire-fighting party which saved a Merchant Vessel from destruction, while serving in H.M.S. Swale.
Documents available: Naval service record (3 pages); London Gazette page(s)
Condition: GVF (toned); mounted for wear; please see photographs for detail
