GILES MILES
Born: 5th August 1883, Taynton, Oxfordshire.
Baptised on the 9th September 1883, at St. John the Evangelist Church, Taynton – family home at Taynton.
Died: 14th September 1916; age 34; KiA.
Evening Star – Monday, 18th June 1917 – Previously reported missing on the 14th September 1916, Giles Miles was now officially reported killed on that date.
Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard – Saturday, 25th November 1916 – In the casualty lists covering an action on the Western Front on the 15th September last appeared the name of Corporal Giles Miles, Grenadier Guards, native of Taynton, Burford. The brief official announcement of death has been supplemented by details conveyed in a letter by Lance Corporal William Miles, of a service battalion of the same regiment, and brother of the deceased Corporal Miles. In the letter of comfort to his own father, William Miles writes: “No doubt by this time you will have learned the fate which befell poor Giles. Yesterday his name was in the casualty list, reported killed in action on the 15th September. I can assure you he met a splendid death. We were together the night preceding the battle. Both knew full well it might be for the last time. We parted cheerful. He was a good chap, liked by all his company, and especially by his platoon. As an old soldier he set a splendid example to our new Army, and he is mourned by all. His Platoon Sergeant has asked me to convey their deepest sympathy to his wife and to you.” Corporal Giles Miles, who was already a soldier when war was declared, leaves a widow and child.
Residence: 51, Handford Road, Ipswich.
Occupation: Ransomes, Simms & Jefferies, Orwell Works, Ipswich.
Enlistment Location: London.
Date of Entry Therein: 26th July 1915 – France.
Rank: Private/Guardsman; Service Number: 13040
Regiment: Grenadier Guards, 3rd Battalion.
Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1915 Star.
The body was discovered in August 1919, in a grave of an Unknown British Soldier, marked by a wooden cross by the 3rd Labour Company. The body was exhumed, identified and reburied at Guards’ Cemetery with many unnamed, known unto God graves.
Grave Reference:
XII.O.9.
Guards’ Cemetery,
Somme,
France.
CENSUS
1891 Cottage, Taynton, Oxfordshire.
Giles was 7 years old and living with his parents, siblings & paternal grandmother.
Giles Miles, 41, an Agricultural Labourer, born Aldsworth, Gloucestershire.
Caroline Miles (nee Peachey), 42, born Chadworth, Gloucestershire.
Edgar Miles, 17, an Agricultural Labourer, born Llantrisant, Glamorgan, Wales.
Jane Miles, 15, born Llantrisant, Glamorgan, Wales.
Samuel, 13, an Agricultural Labourer, born North Leach, Gloucestershire.
Esther Ellen Miles, 12, born North Leach.
Arthur Miles, 9, born Taynton, Oxfordshire.
William Miles, 5, born Taynton.
Stephen Miles, 9 months, born Taynton.
Esther Miles, 75, a widow, living on her own means, born Aldsworth, Gloucestershire.
1901 Vicarage Road, Taynton, Oxfordshire.
Giles was 17 years old, a Labourer & Carter on a Farm. He was living with his parents & brothers.
Giles, 51, a Farm Labourer.
Caroline, 52.
Arthur, 19, a Labourer & Carter on a Farm.
William 15.
Stephen, 10.
1911 Wellington Barracks, St. James’s Park, Westminster, London.
Giles was 24 years old, a Soldier ranked Private in the 1st Grenadier Guards.
Giles’s mother, Caroline Miles, of Taynton, died on the 7th April 1909, after a long illness at Northleach, Gloucestershire. The funeral service and burial were held on the 10th April at St. John the Evangelist Church, Taynton.
In 1912, in St. Marylebone, London, Giles married Florence Berry, a domestic kitchen maid at 26, York Street, Marylebone, born April 1889, Woodbridge, Suffolk – daughter of Robert Berry, a journeyman carpenter and Henrietta Berry (nee Birt), of New Street, Woodbridge.
Florence and Giles had two children:
Norah Hetty Gwendoline Miles, born on the 21st May 1913, Ipswich and baptised on the 8th June 1913, at St. Matthew’s Church, Ipswich – family home at 51, Handford Road, Ipswich. Norah Miles died in 1929 in Ipswich.
Giles Miles, born on the 1st September 1914, at 51, Handford Road, Ipswich and was baptised on the 18th October 1914 – family home at 51, Handford Road, Ipswich. Baby Giles died on the 7th April 1915, St. Peter’s, Ipswich and was buried on the 12th April in Section C at Ipswich Old Cemetery.
Soldiers’ Effects to Florence Miles – widow.
Giles is also remembered on the war memorial at St. Peter’s Church, Ipswich, and on the Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies, Orwell Works war memorial, now sited at The Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket, Suffolk.
Two of Giles’s brothers also lost their lives as a result of the First World War:
EDGAR MILES, first enlisted in February 1894 and saw Service in India and Burma with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He was discharged on the 2nd February 1916 after 22 years of service. Edgar was ranked a Company Sergeant Major, service number 4733 for the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry; he died on the 30th April 1916, aged 42. Edgar Miles married Martha Fanny Perkins in 1909; they had four children and made their family home at 53, Corn Street, Witney, Oxfordshire.
Oxfordshire Weekly News – Wednesday, 10th May 1916 – DEATH OF SERGEANT-MAJOR MILES – We regret to record the death of Company Sergeant-Major Edgar Miles, O.B.L.I., which occurred at 53, Corn Street, on Sunday week. Edgar Miles, who was 42 years of age, had been in the Service for 22 years, and having since the outbreak of the war been on duty at Oxford, was discharged to pension early in February. The delay in the receipt of his pension and papers had worried him a good deal, and having a weak heart, he suddenly fell ill a week or so ago with pneumonia. He was medically attended by Dr. Harvey, who, on finding that Edgar had taken a turn for the worse on Sunday, kindly motored over to Taynton and fetched the patient’s father and sister, who reached here about an hour before Company Sergeant-Major Miles passed away. The deceased had been on active service in India, and held the Indian medal for an engagement in the Khyber Pass, and a long service and good conduct medal. He had intended to seek re-enlistment in the Army on the receipt of his papers. The greatest sympathy will be extended to Mrs. Martha Miles, who is left with three little children. The funeral took place at Witney Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon; the Rector, the Reverend P. P. Goldingham, officiating.
STEPHEN MILES died from gas poisoning at No. 46 Casualty Clearing Station on the 12th October 1918; he was 28 years of age. Stephen was ranked a Private, service number 7966 for the Scots Guards, 2nd Battalion. He was laid to rest at Delsaux Farm Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
Oxford Times – Saturday, 9th November 1918 – DIED FROM GAS POISONING – Stephen Miles, of the Scotch Guards, of Taynton, Burford, has died from gas poisoning while serving in France. The following account of the circumstances of his death has been sent to us: “On the 12th October a gas shell struck a house in which Captain Ferriman and five men were billeted. Stephen Miles was one of the five but outside the house at the time and quite uninjured. Captain Ferriman and another man in the house were also unharmed, but the remaining three of the party in the cellar were gassed. Captain Ferriman, Stephen Miles, and the other man entered the cellar to attempt to save the poor fellows there, and, by doing so, gave up their own lives. I pass no comment; the nobility of the deed needs none – it speaks for itself.” This is the third son Mr. Giles Miles, parish clerk at Taynton, has lost out of four serving.
**
Grenadier Guards, 3rd Battalion
Leave a Reply