Lewis H Miller EM

b. 08/08/1878 Bristol. d. 09/06/1958 Bristol.

DATE OF EM ACTION: 07/09/1927 Bristol.

Lewis was one of eleven children born to Nicholai Soren and Louisa Miller (nee Reeves). His father was born in Denmark and his surname originally Moller was Anglicised to Miller. Lewis married Kate in c.1900 in Bristol and they had a son John, born in 1901. Lewis worked all of his life in the docks at Bristol. Sadly, Kate passed away, and Lewis remarried to Ada, who was 18 years his junior. Lewis died in Bristol on 9th June 1958, aged 79.

 

EM CITATION:

On  the  7th  September,   1927,  the  steamship” Endymion ”  was  being   unloaded  in  the City  Docks,  Bristol,  and  was  lying  about  twoor  three  feet  away  from  the  quay  side.    The cargo  was   being  discharged   by  means   of  a crane  which  lifted  the  sacks  from  the  ship  to a  platform  about 20 feet  above the  quay level. A  man  named  Johns who was  assisting to  pull the  sacks  inwards  from  the  crane  to  the  platform  was  struck  by  a  sack  and  fell  from   the platform  to  the  quay  wall  and  then  rolled  into the  water  between the  quay  side  and  the  ship. On observing  Johns  fall  into  the  water  Miller immediately  jumped  in  and  held  him  up  bymeans   of  the  chains  at  the  water  level  until a   rope  was  lowered. Miller then  fastened Johns  to  the  rope  and  first  Johns  and  then Miller  were  pulled  out  of the  water. There  is no  doubt  that  Miller  was  fully  aware  of  the risk   of  being  crushed  between   the  wall   and the  ship,   and  of  the   difficulty   and  danger  of rescuing   Johns  in  the   confined  space.    The Coroner,  when  holding  an  inquest  on  Johns, who  subsequently  died  as  a  result  of  his  in-juries,   expressed   very   high   admiration   of Miller’s  conduct  and  the  jury  also highly  com-mended   his  action. This   is  the sixteenth occasion  on  which  Miller  has  rescued  persons from  the  water.

 

BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.