William Miller

The inscription on the Hooe Memorial Tablet says, simply, "William Miller 1915 H.M.S. Good Hope", and that is where the mysteries, and the problems, start.

The first mystery is that there is no record, on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission′s website, of any William Miller being on board H.M.S. "Good Hope" when she sank. The website does list two Millers on board the ship at that time; a Walter and a Harry Miller; and it does list three other William Millers but these were serving on ships other than the "Good Hope" at the time they lost their lives.

Walter and a Harry Miller are also commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial but neither, as far as I have been able to find out, had any connection with Hooe and neither had "William" as a middle name, by which they might have been more popularly known.

The "Times" newspaper, within a week of the action at sea, reported the battle in which H.M.S. "Good Hope" was sunk and, on 23rd November, 1914, printed a list of all those on board who lost their lives that day – and Harry and Walter Miller are both on that list but there is no William.

The only William Miller I have been able to find with any connection to Hooe, is the older brother of Isaac John Miller, who died when his ship, the "Viknor", sank off Tory Island (just off the north coast of Ireland), on 13th January 1915, after, it was thought, either hitting a mine or sinking in rough seas whipped up by a violent wind – but no one knew for certain.

The second mystery is that the "Good Hope" sank on 1st November 1914 yet the memorial clearly says 1915 so, if we have the correct ship then the date is wrong. There could well be a reason for this error – the Council simply didn′t know when the ship sank but I would have thought that they would have been able to check with someone who did.

There is one strange coincidence, but, probably, nothing more than that; there was a William Miller on board HMS "Viknor" when it sank, in 1915, but, at the time, he was forty–five years of age and the husband of an Elizabeth Miller, from South Shields so doesn′t appear to have any connection with Hooe – and he′s far too old to be Isaac Miller′s older brother.

If, however, we do assume that the William Miller on the memorial was Isaac′s brother, then, at the time of the 1891 census, the family, including Isaac and William, is living in Chertsey, Surrey (see below).

1891 Census – RG12/552 – County of Surrey, Parish of Chertsey, Entry 69 Address: School Road, Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey

By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to West Sussex, and are living in Northchapel, Petworth.

1901 Census – RG13/953 – Civil Parish: Part of Northchapel; Parish: Part of Northchapel, St. Michael; Rural Division: Part of Petworth; Parliamentary Division of Horsham, Entry 42, Address "Garlands"

William Miller, the brother,is living and working, virtually, "next door", on Horton′s farm.

"1901 Census – West Sussex – RG 13–953."

"Civil Parish: Part of Northchapel; Parish: Part of Northchapel, St. Michael; Rural Division: Part of Petworth; Parliamentary Division of Horsham, Entry 41, Address "Horton′s Farm""

I have no record of these people moving into Hooe or the area around but I believe that they did and sometime before WW1 broke out. See the story of Isaac John Miller for the reasons why I consider that the above might be the family of this William Miller.

However, and it′s a big ′however′, I have no good reason to assume that this William Miller is the William Miller on the memorial, so there is no real point in following this family history any further because there isn′t sufficient information to follow any particular route.

The problem boils down to this: if, on the memorial, the man′s name is right then the date may also be right but the ship is the wrong ship, while if the ship is right then the name and the date are both wrong but if the date is right then the name may also be right but the ship is wrong.

While the above problem is, as yet, unsolved, the action at sea in which the ship sank and in which he may have died, was, with the help of the Internet, relatively easy to discover. Though there were many small points on which most sources disagreed, the basic facts seem to be as I give below.

THE ACTION AT SEA – THE BATTLE OF CORONEL

Sometime in August, 1914, news was received, by the British, that a fleet of German ships known as the "China Squadron" (a fleet that had originally patrolled the far Eastern Pacific, off China, until Japan entered the war on the Allies side) was now patrolling off the west coast of South America and the South Atlantic. This fleet now threatened all allied shipping – cargo and troop ships, sailing from the East, from Australia, and New Zealand.

The German fleet, more modern and more powerful than anything the British had in the South Atlantic and the South Pacific, was commanded by Admiral Graf von Spee who also benefited from having more experienced and battle–hardened crews. The enemy fleet comprised five vessels – two armoured cruisers (the "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau", both of which, for the past two years, had been winners of the German Navy's top gunnery award) and three light cruisers.

The only British presence was "The West Indies Squadron". which consisted of two old armoured cruisers (the "Good Hope" and the "Monmouth"), a light cruiser (the "Glasgow"), and a converted passenger liner (the "Otranto") commanded by Rear–Admiral Christopher Cradock, who had made the "Good Hope" his flagship because she was faster than any of the others. But both the "Good Hope" and the "Monmouth", were manned almost totally by reservists, with ninety–per–cent of the crew of the "Good Hope" having had no real gunnery practice as they were reservists who had only just called up. The "Good Hope", because she was considered to be too outdated for frontline duty with the Grand Fleet, had been paid off in 1912 and put into reserve but had to be brought out when the war started.

The Squadron was to be based off the Falkland Islands but when Cradock was ordered to go out and find Grad Spee, he, being well aware that the fleet under his command was no match for the enemy ships, sent a message to the Admiralty asking for re–enforcements; the reply came that none was available (this was due to the need to keep German High Seas Fleet bottled up in its North Sea bases). However, the Admiralty decided to send two more old vessels to strengthen the fleet – "HMS Canopus" (an old battleship that had only recently been taken out of reserve and was crewed mainly by reservists and cadets who had virtually no war experience and never even fired the guns) and "HMS. Defence" (an armoured cruiser).

Cradock waited for these two ships but the "Defence" never turned up and the "Canopus" had had engine trouble and could sail at no more than 12 knots. Cradock decided that he could wait no longer and sailed around the Horn and up the coast toward the Chilean port of Coronel. His intention was to rendezvous with another ship, the "Glasgow" which had been sent there to gather intelligence.

On 31st October, Cradock received a signal that the "Leipzig" (the slowest cruiser in the enemy fleet) was in the area and he ordered his ships to cut it off. Unfortunately, instead of finding the "Leipzig" he found himself facing the full enemy fleet.

The British ships were disadvantaged because they were facing away from the setting sun, as they attacked, and provided clear silhouettes for the German gunners while the enemy ships, partly hidden in the gloom, were more difficult to see.

Both the "Good Hope" and the "Monmouth" were sunk with the loss of all hands (about 1,500) including Rear–Admiral Christopher Cradock. It seems that no one saw the "Good Hope" sink, in the late evening of 1st November but the Leipzig reported that when she sailed toward the burning glow of what it was thought had been the "Good Hope" only floating debris could be seen.

The "Glasgow", though badly hit, and the "Otranto", nowhere nearly as damaged, managed to survive and escape. The battle was reported in the Bexhill Chronicle, on 7th November 1914, as follows.

THE NAVAL ACTION MYSTERY.

FOUNDERING OF THE "GOOD HOPE".

THE "MONMOUTH" ASHORE.

"At ten o'clock last evening we received the following official message from the Press Association.

"The Admiralty announce that H.M.S. "Good Hope foundered in naval action off Chilian coast, and that, H.M.S. Monmouth" is ashore."

"The action took place on Sunday, last. The "Good Hope", "Monmouth", and "Glasgow" met four German cruisers. Early in the fight the "Good Hope" and "Monmouth" took fire, but fought on until dark. Several explosions occurred, and the "Good Hope" foundered. The "Monmouth" held up, making water badly."

"There was a night attack, but with what result is not yet known. It is reported that the "Monmouth" is ashore on the Chilian coast. The "Glasgow", during the actions, fought two of the German cruisers, but was obliged to draw off. She is not extensively damaged, and has very few casualties."

"Leading Boatman Rowe, of the Bexhill ' Coastguards, has a brother on service as leading seaman on board H.M.S. "Good Hope"."

The article doesn′t mention anyone from Hooe and only obliquely mentions a man from Bexhill all of which would seem to indicate that no one from the area was on board the "Good Hope" the day she sank.

In the editions of the newspaper that followed, I found no further reports on the battle or the ship and there was no mention of the death or otherwise of a William Miller.

It is all a great mystery but one day I hope to solve it. If anyone has any information.....!