Rank: Engine Room Artificer Regiment: Royal Navy HMS Duke of Edinburgh Parish: Beer
HMS Duke of Edinburgh © IWM (Q 21190)
Alec Miller was born in Beer on 3 May 1892. He joined the Royal Navy on 3 November 1914 as an Acting Engine Room Artificer (ERA), to serve for the duration of the war. His RN record describes him as being 5ft 5ins tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a dark complexion. He gave his civilian occupation as engineer.
After training at HMS Vivid, Plymouth, he joined the cruiser HMS Duke of Edinburgh, which had a crew of 774, on 23 December 1914. Duke of Edinburgh was part of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, a unit of the Grand Fleet, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys.
Although it dates from before Alec joined the ship, an entry in Duke of Edinburgh’s log for April 23 1914 gives us a revealing glimpse of life on board ship at this time, at least as regards the food:
HMS Duke of Edinburgh fought at Jutland on 31 May 1916, and the following month joined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. In 1917 she escorted Arctic convoys to Russia, and from August to November 1918 was on the North America and West Indies Station.
Alec was discharged from the Royal Navy in February 1919.
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