Story of Nancy Miller

per Article about Cilicia (Anchor Line)

by shipstamps.co.uk » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:52 pm

Introduction

This is another extraordinary story from World War II in which the ship's surgeon on one Anchor Line ship (which was sunk) was picked up by another Anchor Line ship on which her father, another surgeon, was serving!

The Story

"The Cilicia was built for the Anchor Line in 1938 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd., Glasgow; A vessel of 11,172 gross tons (10,287 tons deadweight), her twin screws driven by two 4-cylinder Doxford oil engines developing 10,200 b.h.p. give her a speed of 16.25 knots. She has accommodation for 300 first-class passengers and has a crew of 233.

Taken over by the Admiralty on August 31, 1939, the Cilicia served for 41 years as an armed merchant cruiser. Then in March 1944 she was taken in hand at Mobile for conversion to a troopship, work which was completed in the following September. On March 25, 1941, while on patrol in the Atlantic, the Cilicia received a radio message from another Anchor Line ship, the Britannia, reporting that she was being attacked by a surface raider. The surgeon in the Cilicia was Dr. Thomas Miller, whose daughter was surgeon in the Britannia. As no further signal was received it was clear that the raider's attack had been successful.

Three days later the Cilicia sighted a small steamer at 6.25 a.m. and at 7.15 a.m. sent away a boarding party to investigate her. She proved to be the Spanish steamer Bachi, and a signal came from the boarding officer that she had picked up survivors from the Britannia. By 9.30 am. they were alongside the Cilicia and first to reach the deck was Dr. Nancy Miller, to be greeted by an overjoyed father. The survivors were landed at Freetown and Dr. Nancy Miller received the M.B.E. in 1942 and Lloyd's Medal in 1943 for her services in attending the passengers and crew of the Britannia during the shelling and sinking of the vessel by a German raider......"

The story appeared in the press:

Nancy Miller

Colin Bower
24 September 2020

Links to:
Britannia Index