People on board

MYLES/MILES, Alfred

Not much is known of Alfred Myles’s early life but it appears that he was born on the 22nd of December 1892 in Omagh, Co Tyrone to Alfred William Miles, a Soldier, and Mary Corrigan. However further verification is needed to confirm that this is the same man. None of the three can be found in the 1901 census but Alfred Jnr is found working as a Farm Servant in Muff, Co Donegal in 1911. On the Register of Soldiers’ Effects his mother, and Sole Legatee, is named as Mary.

Alfred Myles appears to have enlisted in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers at the beginning of the war. He was wounded in September 1914, and on his return to Berwick with his regiment, he was one of those interviewed by The Berwick Advertiser on the 24th about their experiences at Mons and Cambrai. He produced the bullet which had entered his hand, which he was keeping as a souvenir of the campaign. He declared that “he would like to see the finish of it now that I have seen the beginning”. He then left Berwick for Ireland on a fortnight’s furlough.

In November 1916 he was one of a number of members of the K.O.S.B. to receive the Military Medal from the King for bravery in the field. He appears to have been with the 2nd Battalion, first as a Private and then promoted to Corporal and at one stage he was Acting Sergeant. In October 1918 he was listed as being with the 3rd Reserve Battalion, a Training Unit which had moved to Ireland in December 1917. It is not known if he was going on leave or returning to active service when he travelled on RMS Leinster on the 10th. He did not survive the sinking nor was his body recovered. His name is recorded on the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton.