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James Brian Millar
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Born at Noel, Nova Scotia on 20 September 1913, oldest of nine children of farmers Archie Cleveland Miller and Annie Maude Miller, in 1915 the family moved to Manitoba. He graduated grade 11 from the Myrtle High School in 1932 and qualified as a Master Mechanic at the Musker Engineering Institute in 1939 while working as a farm hand. When he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on 13 September 1940, he was living in Winnipeg and working as a mechanic for Service Motors Club.
He trained as a pilot and received his wings and a promotion to the rank of Sergeant on 4 May 1941. He departed Halifax for England on 8 May 1941 and was promoted to the rank of Flight Sergeant on 1 December 1941. On 28 January 1942, he joined 138 (Special Duties) Squadron at RAF Station Tempsford in England. On 16 February 1942, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer.
On 21 April 1942, he was a member of the crew on Whitley Z9158 when it flew into the ground near RAF Station Boscombe Down. The aircraft had returned to England after a successful mission to drop propaganda leaflets somewhere over occupied Europe. The crash occurred in conditions of poor visibility and probably while the aircraft was turning below 200 feet above ground level. Searchlights employed to aid aircraft may have dazzled or misled the pilot regarding the altitude of the aircraft. The only member of the crew to survive the crash was the rear gunner.
He was buried in the Brookwood Military Cemetery at Surrey, England. In 1995, the province of Manitoba named Ivan Miller Lake in his honour.
This page was prepared by Robert Nash.
Page revised: 24 May 2024
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