Roll of Honour
Lieutenant
Kenneth Steven Miller
Student
Kenneth Miller was a promising medical student in 1914 when he took a commission with the 4th Scottish Rifles and went to fight in Flanders. He was born on the 22nd March 1894 at the family home at 10 Newton Place, Glasgow. His father was a famous, often controversial Physician. Robert Gibson Miller was a Glasgow graduate who was deeply influenced by the homeopathic principles taught by Dr. James Tyler Kent, with whom he worked in the United States. His mother was Margaret McArthur Miller (née Steven) and they had married on the 21st May 1890, also in Glasgow. He would have been expected to carry on the tradition of public service for which his father and grandfather were well known. His grandfather was a former Provost of Hillhead, who had worked hard to promote the Botanic Gardens as a public institution.
Kenneth set out on his medical studies in 1913 and matriculated that year to take classes in Zoology and Chemistry. He was 19 and did well, gaining a Creditable Mention in Practical Botany. No doubt when he joined the Army at the end of his successful first year he had every intention of returning to complete his degree.
On the 1st August 1917, however, he was posted missing. This was in the early days of the Third Battle of Ypres, or Passchendaele as it became known. He was one of 70,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force, who died during a four month battle which was counted a technical success, but which saw its territorial gains eroded over the next few months. Passchendaele became a symbol of the pity and futility of war for a generation.
In the new year, Kenneth's family received a circular from the University to inform them of the Army's decision to release medical students who had passed the subjects of their First Professional Exam and return them to their studies. Young men in this position would be of more use to their country trained as doctors. It was too late for Kenneth, however, and his father replied on the 15th February 1918, that his son "I am sorry to say has been missing since August 1st 1917."
Lieutenant Kenneth Steven Miller is commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. By the time the memorial was in place he was described as the son of Mrs Margaret Miller of 12 Parkgrove Terrace, Glasgow. Dr. Gibson Miller died of cancer in 1919, having spent his last years working punishing long hours and mourning the loss of his son.
Comments and Citations
University of Glasgow Faculty and Registry records.
Memorial Place: Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Find War Dead