Francis George Miles

"Francis Miles" redirects here. For other uses, see Francis Miles (disambiguation).

Francis George Miles VC
Born	9 July 1896 Clearwell, Gloucestershire
Died	8 November 1961(1961-11-08) (aged 65) Clearwell
Buried	Cemetery, Clearwell
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Rank	Private
Unit	The Gloucestershire Regiment Pioneer Corps
Battles / wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Victoria Cross

Francis George Miles VC (9 July 1896 – 8 November 1961) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was 22 years old, and a Private in the 1/5th Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 23 October 1918 at Bois-l'Évêque, Landrecies, France, when his company was held up by a line of enemy machine guns in a sunken road, Private Miles, alone and on his own initiative went forward under exceptionally heavy fire, located a machine gun, shot the gunner and put the gun out of action. Then seeing another gun nearby, he again went forward alone, shot the gunner and captured the team of eight. Finally he stood up and beckoned to his company who, acting on his signals, were able to capture 16 machine guns, one officer and 50 other ranks.

He joined up again in World War II serving with the Pioneer Corps.

His medals are held in the Lord Ashcroft VC collection in the Imperial War Museum in London.

References

• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• VCs of the First World War - The Final Days 1918 (Gerald Gliddon, 2000)

External links

• Burial location of Francis Miles on Gloucestershire Regiment web page

St Peter's Church, Clearwell - Francis Miles VC lies in the Churchyard