William J. Miller, Trooper, “B” Squadron, 1 Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment
 

I was saddened to hear about the passing away of William J. Miller, the father of my friend and fellow MLU-er Bill Miller.

Bill Miller Sr. passed away on 14 June 2015, 2 days shy of his 92nd birthday.

Trooper W.J. Miller, L.106880, served in “B” Squadron, 1 Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment and later (after recovering from being wounded in batlle) in 14 RCAR "Calgary Tanks".

I was honoured to have met him several times, both in Holland and Canada. The first time was while we were visiting the Ram Kangaroo memorial at Mill, the Netherlands, back in 2005 (see picture below, on the right). Last time I met him was in May 2014 at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, AB, CDN.

Also see https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...85718511492341, a special entry on the Canadian Kangaroo Regiment Association & Archive facebook page.

Attachment 77433
Left to right: Trooper Art Bell (HQ Sqn), Trooper Ed Sawchuk (B Sqn), Trooper Bill Miller,Sr. (B Sqn).
Bill Miller Sr. was the last of these three Kangaroo veterans to pass away....

Rust in vrede, William Miller! :salute:

Hanno

I just heard about Miller Sr's passing from Miller Jr at the 67th (and possibly last) reunion at Katz's Deli in Toronto.

It was a very emotional reunion. There were only three Kangaroos in attendance with a report that two others were too ill to attend.

Miller Jr has relinquished his post as Secretary, Mark Tonner now has that responsibility.

Thanks Hanno. I do miss the old man. :salute:

As Jon mentioned, we did have a great AND emotional reunion last Saturday. I was a bit blindsided by a presentation made to me in Dad's memory. A framed 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands medal, a commemorative put out by the Dutch Branch #005 of the RCL in Holland this past spring. It;s quite an attractive little medal, but what really struck me was the Dutch Orange ribbon. I was immediately reminded of our Guidon and flooded with emotion.

So many memories of my Dad, but as he was too ill too travel just the week before our Guidon presentation in 2011, it will always be a great regret of mine that he was not able to cross the 'finish-line' with me so to speak, as we were then being perpetuated and remembered by 31CER.

So many veterans I came to know weren't there. Dad's friend and fellow Kangaroo Tpr Art Bell was maybe the first one to try and get us recognized by the Military again. Geoff wasn't there. He got the ball rolling on that great initiative.

Last Saturday the 7th was our 67th... possibly the last reunion with the veterans, but one never knows. I have stepped away as Secretary. I took over from the late Geoff Winnington-Ball in late 2010. Mark Tonner will be filling in now. This makes the most sense, since most of our events as tied to our perpetuation unit 31CER will be in St. Thomas now. Much easier for Mark to be the public face and spokesperson for our veterans as he is just down the road and I am three Provinces away. However, I am still involved and engaged with the Association and of course the Regimental Archives Calgary which will remain active ad available to our veterans and surviving families.

Armatos Fundit!

Bill Miller Jr.

Attachment 77448 Attachment 77447 Attachment 77449

Bill, my condolences on the loss of your father. :salute:

Alex

Thinking of you, Bill.

They don't make em like you Dads generation any more, and there's the greater loss for us all!