Private Fred Lorenza Miller
249286
Born – Simcoe, Ontario
Killed in Action – Bois de Sart, Boiry Notre-Dame-Aug 27, 1918
Some soldiers of the great war had cool jobs before entering the service and others had really, really cool jobs. To best understand the men who served and gave our country their ultimate sacrifice, one needs to dig deep to appreciate their lives before the war. It matters. It counted when they queued up on the day they enlisted in the local battalion. It certainly came up when they introduced themselves to each other….small chat on the boat ride over from Canada to England, more friendly chit chat at the confectionary, a conversation or two over a pint of beer on an off day at training or late nights on patrol with a battalion mate. “So, what did you do before the war?” The responses would be as varied as the answer to where they called their hometown. “Worked on the railway…raised cattle with my old man…banker…am a school teacher…” Private Fred Lorenza Miller of Toronto ON had the coolest answer…”I sold Ice Cream.”
We often do not appreciate the wonderful and conveniences advances that have been made just in the last century. For all of time…up until the 1940’s ice for home and business use came from a lake. In the winter the lakes would freeze over and after a nice long cold spell, blocks of ice would be cut and stored for use throughout the remainder of the year. Fred Miller worked for one of Toronto’s largest Ice proprietors…Bell Ewart Ice Company. His employer cut blocks of ice out of Grenadier Pond in High Park and it was used by Torontonians throughout the year to cool down their drinks or help keep their disposables a bit longer. Thus…one can imagine that Fred might have used the best ice breaker when he started new conversations with the new men he met while serving overseas and talking about his former job.
While he probably didn’t know it at the time, Fred and his family also lived in what would become one of Toronto’s most prestigious addresses. He lived on Toronto’s Yorkville Avenue…a street where today one would more than likely bump into the socially elite of society than a hardscrabble great war soldier. From his blue-collar worker background, at the age of 26 he decided to follow the herd (friends and co-workers) and enlist for the war. Miller began his service with the 208th Irish Canadians. They were a Toronto-based battalion that was affiliated with the 2nd Battalion, the Irish Regiment of Canada.
Miller enlisted on April 7th, 1916, trained at Camp Borden throughout the remainder of 1916/1917 and on May 3rd departed for England on the SS Justica. It took almost another full year of training in England before he would join the fray. On Feb 16, 1918 he was transferred to the 116th Battalion and accompanied the men already over in France. Soon after, the Germans would kick off their Spring Offensive which was primarily focused on the sector of trenches to the east of the Canadians. Our boys were in the Arras sector. Meanwhile, the 116th spent the spring and summer manning the trenches, training the men and ramping up their manpower and resources in preparation for the big push planned for the fall.
Private Miller received bis baptism of fire along with the majority of the men now serving in the 116th at Amiens on Aug 8th. By this time, the war had evolved from one of attrition and stagnation to attrition and movement. The seemingly daily arrivals of new recruits from Canada (via England) represented the fuel the allies needed to power their war machine. From Amiens, the 116th were moved to an area east of Arras and Monchy. They were assigned the task of taking Boiry Notre dame and Artillery Hill. These represented two objectives situated to the east of Bois du Sart and beyond Bois du Vert…both protected by a network of German trenches. The series of objectives needed to be taken to brake the final section of the Hindenburg Line still in the hands of the Germans.
4:55 am August 27th. Darkness still clouded the front between the Canadians and the entrenched Germans. The men did not have much time at all to prepare. The war of constant movement had changed the nature of warfare. The men were now just tools to mop up after the combined forces of artillery, airpower and tanks. Yet, as the human body had always been no match for shards and bits of flying iron this would again prove to be a weak spot when the whistles blew that fateful morning. The artillery barraged the German trenches. Air superiority enabled the RAF to strategically bomb vulnerable positions and the new weapon, the tank, slowly crawled across the battlefield. Meanwhile, almost instantly in climbing atop the parapet on the attack on Bois du Sart, Private Frederick Miller was cut down by a hail of gunfire spat out by the entrenched German gunners. He and 60 other men from the 116th that day did not stand for roll call the next morning. The 116th lost 8% of their troop strength that day. A most tragic day for the battalion and for the family of Private Frederick Lorenza Miller.
May he rest in peace.