Photo collage – Thunder Bay

This tribute was created by Dusty Miller. It outlines the life history of Thomas Breech Miller who served in the Air Force. Included in the collage is an excerpt from A Book of George Medal Winners by W.H. Fevyer

Inscription

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THOMAS BREECH MILLER
Tom was born May 6, 1921 in
Waubaushene, Ontario on Georgian Bay. He was
the first child of Kenelm Stephen Miller and Grace
Breech Miller. His father was then assistant
superintendent at the CPR elevator in Port
McNicol, Ontario.

He attended elementary school and secondary
school in Port McNicol and Owen Sound,
graduating from Owen Sound Collegiate in
1939. He then moved to Saint John, New
Brunswick where his father had become superin-
tendent at the CPR elevators there.

Tom enlisted in the Air Force in Moncton,
New Brunswick in July 1940. He trained at the
Eglinton Hunt Club, Malton and Jarvis where he
received his Observer’s Wings. He then took a
night flying course in Rivers, Manitoba.

He arrived in England in June 1941 and
was stationed at Darlington in York with the 78th
Squadron of the RAF.

In September 1941 his plane crashed on
return from a bombing mission. Tom returned
twice to the burning plane to rescue two members
of the crew who had been injured. He was awarded
the George Medal, the first Canadian to receive it,
at an investiture presided over by King George VI
at Buckingham Palace in May 1942.

Following this crash Tom spent several
months in hospital recovering from his
burns before returning to his Squadron. In June 1942 his
plane crashed in the North Sea off the coast of
Holland. Tom and the rear gunner, the only
survivors, spent four days floating in a small dinghy
before being picked up by Germans.

From June 1942 until May 19, 1945, Tom
was a prisoner-of-war in Germany. While a
prisoner he made several escape attempts and
once got right away from the camp but was
recaptured and returned to solitary confinement for
some time. When he returned to Canada on June
8th, 1945, he was in a very weakened condition
from malnutrition and dysentery and spent most of
the summer in hospital in Halifax. He was
discharged from the RCAF in September 1945 with
the rank of Flying Officer.

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Tom entered University College of the
University of Toronto in October 1945 and
commenced work on an Honours B.A. in Modern
History, graduating in June 1949.

In August of that year he married Eleanor
Joan Miller, “Dusty” as she was called, who had
been born and raised in Fort William, now part of
Thunder Bay. In September 1949, Tom and Dusty
left for London, England so that Tom could enroll in
graduate work at the London School of Economics
under the distinguished historian, Sir Charles
Webster. He received his Ph.D. in 1954 and
returned to Canada in August.

In September Tom and Dusty arrived in
Thunder Bay where he began to teach at the
Lakehead Technical Institute, now Lakehead
University. He eventually became the founding
chair of the Departments of History and Geography
and was chair of the history department for three
terms. He was also the founding director of the
University’s Summer Session and Continuing
Education Program. He became Professor of
History in 1967.

In his thirty-three years at Lakehead
University, Tom served several terms as an
executive member of the Ontario Confederation of
University Faculty Associations, was founding
chair of the L.U. Faculty Association, on the Senate
and various Senate Committees and a Faculty
Representative to the Board of Governors.

He also had a continuing involvement in
the Thunder Bay community. He was a popular
actor in many Cambrian Players productions,
served on the boards of many organizations
including the Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship, the
N.D.P., the Lakehead Social Planning Council, the
Thunder Bay Community Auditorium and the
United Way (Campaign Chair in 1975). He was
founding Chair and executive member of the
Thunder Bay Branch of the Canadian Institute of
International Affairs. Tom was a great support to
Dusty as well in her years as city councillor and
Mayor of Thunder Bay.

He published several articles on interna-
tional relations and various Northwestern Ontario
topics. In his later years when ill health restricted
his activities, he wrote and delivered a number of
commentaries for CBC national radio.

Tom Miller died on August 10th, 1996.

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Thomas Breech Miller, Can./R.64816
Sergeant, Royal Canadian Air Force
L.G.6.1.1942 p.121

One night in September, 1941, Sergeant Miller was the air observer of an aircraft which, following a successful attack on a target in North West Germany, had been attacked by an enemy fighter. The controls were damaged and the starboard engine was put out of action, and the pilot had to effect a retracted, came to rest half over a hedge and caught fire. The rear gunner and second wireless operator were only slightly injured and escaped from the rear of the aircraft. Sergeant Miller was also uninjured and escaped through the hop hatch. He then noticed that the pilot and first wireless operator were still in the aircraft, which was now blazing furiously. Undeterred, Sergeant Miller re-entered the aircraft through the top hatch and found the captain lying in a dazed condition, as he had been wounded about the face and head. Sergeant Miller pulled the captain through the hatch and carried him away from the aircraft. He returned for the first wireless operator who was lying in the rear of the cabin, very badly hurt and with his clothing on fire one or two places. Sergeant Miller succeeded in lifting him through the hatch and carried him to a place of safety, where he beat out the flames from the injured man’s clothing with his hands after rolling him on the ground in an attempt to smother them. The flares, oxygen bottles, ammunition and petrol tanks began to explode immediately after Sergeant Miller got clear of the aircraft. He received severe burns to his hands while rescuing his comrades, whose lives were undoubtedly saved by his prompt and extremely brave action.

Cet hommage est l’œuvre de Dusty Miller. Il illustre la vie de Thomas Breech Miller qui a servi dans la Force aérienne. Le collage comprend un extrait du livre A Book of George Medal Winners par W.H. Fevyer.

Le texte de l’inscription figure dans la section anglaise.