b. 1981 Calne, Wiltshire.
DATE OF CGC ACTION: 21/05/2007 Basra, Iraq.
Adam W “Dusty” Miller CGC
Miller grew up in Calne, Wiltshire. He attested for the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers on 28 June 1998, and after completing Basic Training at the Army Training Centre Pirbright conducted trade training as a Recovery Mechanic at the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Bordon. He served with the R.E.M.E. extensively in Germany, Canada and the UK, and was deployed on operations to both Kosovo and Iraq. It was during his second tour of Iraq, during Operation Telic 10 on 21 May 2007, that he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his gallantry under heavy enemy fire in Basra, on the first day of his Battle-group’s tour of the city.
Miller later recalled, ‘At the time, I was completely unaware of the severity of the situation, my sole focus was to extract the casualty vehicle to a place of safety, it was only afterwards that I realised how dangerous the situation had actually been.’
Miller was invested with his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2008, and in December of that year was further honoured by the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers with the opening of “Miller’s Bar” at 6 Close Support Battalion’s Tidworth base. He was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in September 2013, and having been advanced Warrant Officer Class II, was discharged on 17 January 2023, after 24 years’ exemplary service.
On 19 April 2023, Miller’s medal group including his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was due to be auctioned at Noonan’s, Mayfair, London with a guide price of between £100,000 and £140,000. On the day of the auction it was announced that the medal group was being withdrawn from sale, as Miller had been approached by the REME Museum, who wished to display the group. On the acquisition of the medal, Major (Retd) Rick Henderson, REME Museum Director said:
“The Museum is extremely proud to be able to display the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) awarded to then Cpl Adam Miller for his actions in 2007. The Museum is also eternally grateful to all those people who supported us in delivering this project. It is very fitting that the medal will be on public display at the REME Museum. The Museum sits just outside the Home of the Corps and Technical Training Establishment at MOD Lyneham. It is at this Training establishment that all REME personnel receive their trade training.”
The REME Museum was only able to acquire these incredibly important items with thanks to a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
CGC CITATION:
On the afternoon of 21 May 2007, on the first day of 4 Rifles battle-group’s tour in Basra city, R Company was tasked with a re-supply convoy to and from the Provincial Joint Co-ordination Centre – on isolated base in the heart of Basra. On the return leg the convoy came under ferocious contact on a busy junction in a militia stronghold. The ambush involving over 100 insurgents firing small arms and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), destroyed a fuel tanker, caused two fatalities and severely damaged a civilian low loader carrying Saxon and Land Rover, which limped to a canal crossing before breaking down blocking the bridge. The loss of military vehicles in the centre of Basra would have allowed the militias to claim a significant victory – the decision was taken to fight to recover the vehicles.
Whilst this contact was going on, Corporal Miller, a recovery mechanic, was on standby in Basra Palace. The complexity and nature of the breakdown meant that the Foden (an unprotected soft-skin wheeled recovery truck) was the only recovery asset capable of performing the task, so Corporal Miller and Lance-Corporal Burn (the Foden driver) were tasked to the scene. They were escorted 3 miles to the breakdown site by a platoon from R Company. By the time they arrived, the platoon at the bridge were engaged in an intense gun battle with about 75 militia engaging from 15-20 firing points, on roofs, alleyways, cars and from the Iraqi Police Station at rages of 50 to 200 metres and in a 360° radius. The noise of automatic fire, metallic ringing of bullets striking vehicles and repeated explosions of RPG warheads on the Warriors and Bulldogs was continuous and deafening. Into this maelstrom drove Corporal Miller in his soft-skinned recovery vehicle. Corporal Miller carefully reversed the Foden up to the disabled low-loader and then without hesitation dismounted.
The soldiers, fighting for their lives from under armour, watched in fear of Corporal Miller’s life, as he ran forward 50 metres across the exposed bridge, in complete view of the enemy to begin his assessment. For the next 45 minutes, with only one single Bulldog to provide a shield at the site – scant protection in a 360° and 3 dimensional urban battle – he worked on the recovery, attempting first to bleed the brakes; then to unhook the tractor unit; and then to cut the securing chains for the Saxon and Land Rover. He repeatedly ran back the company commander’s Bulldog to report on his progress. Throughout this period he was under continuous and heavy fire with bullets striking the road, bridge railings and vehicle he was working on, often only inches from him. The militia then resorted to firing RPGs to attempt to destroy the low-loader and its high profile military cargo. In the course of 15 minutes, five RPGs detonated on the vehicle, no more than a few feet from Corporal Miller as he worked. It is a miracle he survived. Despite his extraordinary dedicated and resourceful efforts, the low loader ultimately proved too severely damaged to be towed and only at this point, with all options exhausted, did Corporal Miller return to the Palace.
In all, Corporal Miller was exposed, either in the soft-skinned Foden or dismounted, for nearly 2 hours, much of that time under constant and heavy enemy fire including over 20 RPGs. Despite these threats and the inherent danger of a fuel explosion, Corporal Miller displayed icy nerve, professional dedication of the very highest order and almost suicidal courage in an impossible situation. In a tour characterised by numerous acts of courage in heavy urban fighting, Corporal Miller’s actions stand out as the defining example of bravery under fire. His premeditated and determined conduct showed conspicuous gallantry of a very high order.’
LOCATION OF MEDAL: REME MUSEUM, LYNEHAM, WILTSHIRE.
