Miller, William Andrew

Lance Corporal

Canadian Provost Corps

C9710

After serving 18 months in the Canadian Provost Corps in Northwest Europe, the Second World War was over for Lance-Corporal Bill Miller. As he waited for repatriation to go back to Canada, he developed a persistent sore throat and a fever. Yet he didn’t want to go to a doctor because he feared being hospitalized and missing his boat home.

On Dec. 10, 1945, Bill Miller, 26, died of diphtheria in a military hospital in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery. His burial references are Section XVII Row D Grave 16.

“His delay in seeing a doctor was the cause, diphtheria had set in much too far,” wrote Mike Kolomoy of Port Arthur, Ontario, in a Feb. 8, 1946 letter to Miller’s mother. Mr. Kolomoy had served with him in the Canadian Provost Corps and was also a pallbearer at the military funeral in the Netherlands.

Capt. Allan Reoch, a Padre, sent an official letter on Dec. 13, 1945, notifying his parents, John and Margaret Millar, at their farm near White Lake, Ontario. Capt. Reoch had lived in Amsterdam a few blocks away from where Bill Miller was stationed and took ill.

1

“It must have come as a great shock to you (his parents) especially as the time for his returning to Canada was so near at hand. He was, I know, looking forward to going home so much. He was a grand lad,” wrote Capt. Reoch who attended the funeral.

Mrs. Millar, whose son used “Miller,” as a different spelling to his last name, had sent numerous letters of enquiry about the circumstances of his untimely death.

In his response on Jan. 17, 1946, Capt. Reoch wrote, “I can assure you that your son received the best medical attention possible and was not neglected in any way after he reported the sore throat.” He first went to a nearby medical station in Amsterdam but “as he had a high temperature,“ he was rushed by ambulance to a larger military hospital in Nijmegen, about 120 kilometres away.

Capt. Edward Birch also wrote to the family on March 26, 1946, from his home in Berkeley, California. Capt. Birch was the Canadian chaplain at the Nijmegen military hospital where Bill Miller died.

“Diphtheria on the Continent (Europe) was very malignant and very quickly affected the patient,” He wrote. “From what I could learn, your boy took it to be a sore throat and left [sic] it go too long.”

In an effort to comfort the parents, Capt. Birch wrote: “He was unconscious a good deal of the time and passed away peacefully. I do not believe that he left any message. I don’t think he was capable of doing so.”

Bill’s friend, Mr. Kolomy, who sent some of his photographs of the grave that December, also sought to comfort the mother. “And I assure you Mrs. Millar when summer comes around, the grass turns green, the flowers start to bloom, Bill’s grave too will be fixed up as those of the others.” William Andrew Miller was born July 18, 1919, to John Millar, (1897-1969) an Irish farmer, and Margaret “Maggie” Isobel Robertson (1877-1965), a

2 school teacher, living in rural White Lake, Ontario. There were three brothers, Lawrence or Lorne Millar (1922-1993), Cecil Millar (1931-2006), and Ross Millar, (1935 to present). The family name was spelled “Millar” but Bill always signed his name as “Miller.”

Bill was educated at the Bellamy Road Public School, known as School Section No. 7, Pakenham Township, Ontario. He went as far as Grade 9 before he was needed to work on the family farm located on Bellamy Road in Darling Township, Lanark County. The Millars made their living from selling pine logs to local sawmills.

As the oldest son, Bill also helped out his grandfather, Andrew Robertson on his farm not too far away at Waba. He was taught rifle handling at an early age by his father and grandfather who were both excellent marksmen. He enjoyed hunting, mainly deer.

3

Bill in uniform stands with brother Lorne and Cecil kneeling behind.

Weighing 160 pounds and standing 5 feet 11 inches, he was “called up” to military service in March of 1941 receiving basic training in Peterborough, Petawawa and Kingston, On May 1, 1942, he was posted to Halifax for active service where he served as a gunner with the Royal Canadian Artillery Regiment, First Halifax Coast Bridge, 53rd Heavy Battery.

Bill Miller is shown in front at right with Bill Metcalfe, on left.

In the rear, Rob Lowe is at left and Howard Boal at right.

4

After shipping out to Britain in August, 1943, he transferred to the Canadian Provost Corps, 11th Company, which is the military police. In May, 1944, he was promoted from Private to Lance-Corporal.

On June 18, 1944, his unit was sent over to France once the Allied Forces established the Normandy beachhead. As a provost, he would have assisted in traffic control, guarding prisoners and running dispatch messages to various regiments. Bill Miller served in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. He would have been present on May 5, 1945, for the liberation of the Netherlands from four years of Nazi occupation. He died seven months later of diphtheria.

During 1945, Bill Miller had sent his mother mainly postcards “which will give you an idea of what Holland is like …” In a letter along with more postcards, he also sent this treasured photograph he had taken in Brussels when he was on leave.

5

His younger brother, Ross Millar of Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada, said that “My mother was never the same” after the loss of her son to disease.

In an EMC newspaper article published in Carleton Place,. Ross Millar stated: “The war was over in May [1945]. He [Bill] wrote to say he would be coming home in January [1946]. When the telegram (about his death) came, it was a big shock,”

“Bill came through the war without a scratch, as far as we know. Then he became ill and died afterwards. That’s what is so hard to take,” said Ross in the EMC newspaper article.

While his parents never could afford the trip to the Netherlands, Ross had a lifetime dream of visiting his brother’s grave at the Groesbeek cemetery. “I was just six years old when Bill went away. I never really got to know him.”

But the idea for a pilgrimage came in 2009 from their daughter Susan, who was taking her Masters of Science degree in Heritage Conservation at Oxford Brookes University in England. She suggested her parents come at Easter for a visit and add a quick trip over to the Netherlands. Her fellow Oxford student, Reitze Wellen, who is a native of Nijmegen, connected them with his parents, Joseph Wellen and Anje Sierdsma who guided them to the war cemetery. “They were so good to us,” Ross said.

Joseph Wellen and Anje Sierdsmawith Ross and Jennifer,April 15, 2009.

6

Grave Reference XVII. D. 16.

Ross at his brother’s grave…

“The feeling we had was that it (Groesbeek war cemetery) is peaceful. It was uplifting in a way -- almost restful -- in the beautiful spring weather,” Jennifer said in the newspaper article.

For Ross, it was memorable trip he will never forget. He got to spent quiet moments kneeling beside his brother Bill’s tombstone whose inscription, chosen by the Millar family reads: “A loving God knows best.”

Biography made available for Faces To Graves, with courtesy of Kurt Johnson.

7