Dusty Miller (martyr)
Encyclopedia
"Dusty" Miller was a British P.O.W. in Thailand
on the Burma Railway during Second World War. His life and death is attested to in Ernest Gordon
's autobiographical work Through the Valley of the Kwai
(also published under the titles To End All Wars and Miracle on the River Kwai).
and a Methodist. He was (like Gordon) in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
, but was drafted into the Military Police or "Red Caps".
ese. Gordon was dying and was daily attended to by Miller, and "Dinty" Moore, a Roman Catholic P.O.W. In their care Gordon, very unexpectedly, recovered.
Through the examples of Miller and Moore, the recovery of Gordon, and the self-sacrificing examples of numerous others, both faith and hope were restored to many soldiers in the death camps.
as a result of his faith by a Japanese guard.
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
on the Burma Railway during Second World War. His life and death is attested to in Ernest Gordon
Ernest Gordon
Ernest Gordon was the former Presbyterian dean of the chapel at Princeton University. A native of Scotland, as an officer in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Gordon spent three years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the Second World War...
's autobiographical work Through the Valley of the Kwai
Through the Valley of the Kwai
Through the Valley of the Kwai is the autobiography of a Scottish captain named Ernest Gordon and recounts the experiences of faith and hope of the men held in a Japanese prisoner of war labour camp, building the Burma Railway during the last three and a half years of World War II.The book was...
(also published under the titles To End All Wars and Miracle on the River Kwai).
Background
Miller was a gardener from NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and a Methodist. He was (like Gordon) in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....
, but was drafted into the Military Police or "Red Caps".
Internment
He became known to Ernest Gordon during a period early on in their three and a half year incarceration under the JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese. Gordon was dying and was daily attended to by Miller, and "Dinty" Moore, a Roman Catholic P.O.W. In their care Gordon, very unexpectedly, recovered.
Through the examples of Miller and Moore, the recovery of Gordon, and the self-sacrificing examples of numerous others, both faith and hope were restored to many soldiers in the death camps.
Death
At the war's end Gordon was the sole survivor of the three. Upon liberation as he sought news of his friends he found that two weeks before the war's end Miller had been crucifiedCrucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
as a result of his faith by a Japanese guard.
See also
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by Elie WieselElie WieselSir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and... - "Silence"Silence (novel)is a 1966 novel of historical fiction by Japanese author Shusaku Endo. It is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution in the time of Kakure Kirishitan that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion...
, the acclaimed historical novel by Shusaku EndoShusaku EndoShūsaku Endō was a 20th-century Japanese author who wrote from the unusual perspective of being both Japanese and Catholic...
dealing with the history of Christianity in Japan. - Christian martyrsChristian martyrsA Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."...
- Forty Martyrs of SebasteForty Martyrs of SebasteThe Forty Martyrs of Sebaste or the Holy Forty were a group of Roman soldiers in the Legio XII Fulminata whose martyrdom in 320 for the Christian faith is recounted in traditional martyrologies.They were killed near Sebaste, in Lesser Armenia, victims of the persecutions of Licinius,...
Contemporaries of note
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