The Scottish War Graves Project

apanderson · Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 6903 Location: Stirlingshire

Robert Miller on CWGC for me please?

SNWM:
Surname MILLER
Firstname Robert
Service number
Date of death 16/02/1940
Place of birth Falkirk
Other S.S. "HAMILTON"
SNWM roll MERCHANT NAVY & FISHING FLEETS (Part 2)
Rank Engineer
Theatre of death Unknown

Listed on Family Stone in Camelon Cemetery.

Anne

kenmorrison · Joined: 05 Oct 2008 Posts: 747

Anne - can't see him . Mind you I can't find SS Hamilton anywhere on the net either. Odd.
The inscripition doesn't give any clue does it?????
Ken

apanderson · Joined: 02 Oct 2007 Posts: 6903 Location: Stirlingshire

Nope, not a sausage.

Inscription reads:

Father: James Miller died 25th July 1929 age 65
Mother: Elizabeth Miller (nee Anderson) died 16th November 1941 age 74
Their son Robert, lost at sea, 16th February 1940 aged 49 years.

I found this (but it's WW1??):
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/id1702.htm

"SS Hamilton, a 3723 gross ton coastal passenger steamer, was built in 1899 at Chester, Pennsylvania. She was rebuilt at Newport News, Virginia, in 1909 and, in December 1917, was chartered by the Navy. Converted to a minelayer at South Brooklyn, New York, she was placed in commission in April 1918 as USS Saranac (ID # 1702). The ship crossed the Atlantic to Scotland in June to begin several months of minelaying as part of the squadron that erected an vast anti-submarine mine barrier across the North Sea. This task was completed late in October, a few weeks before the 11 November 1918 Armistice brought an end to the First World War's fighting. Saranac returned to the United States early in the new year. Generally inactive after that, she was decommissioned in March 1919 and turned over to the U.S. Shipping Board for return to her owner, the Old Dominion Steamship Company."

kenmorrison · Joined: 05 Oct 2008 Posts: 747

Anne "Lost at Sea" - I suppose could mean anything.
As far as I remember CWGC would not list a member of the Merchant Navy unless the loss was due directly to enemy action. Not sure what criteria SNWM use (if any).

Ken

kinnethmont · Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 121 Location: aberdeenshire

Ken

Your memory serves well

MM men had to die "due to the increased risks due to war conditions". Dying of illness or normal occupational hazards would not qualify. Likewise, if he threw himself over the side. In basic terms he would only qualify if he died due to enemy action.
_________________
Jim

If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.