Dusty Miller (martyr)
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''Through the Valley of the Kwai'' (also published under the titles ''Miracle on the River Kwai'' and ''To End All Wars'') is the
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
of the Scottish captain Ernest Gordon, and recounts the experiences of
faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...
and hope of the men held in a
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
labour camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...
, building the
Burma Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Dusty Miller

Dusty Miller was a British
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
(POW) in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
conscripted to work on the Burma Railway during the last three and a half years of World War II. His life and death is attested to in Gordon's book. Miller was a gardener from
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
and a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
. Like Gordon, he was in the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...
, but was drafted into the Military Police or "Red Caps". He became known to Ernest Gordon during a period early on in their three-and-a-half-year incarceration under the
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
. Gordon was seriously ill, and was attended to by Miller and "Dinty" Moore, a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
POW. In their care, Gordon 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, he sought news of his friends. He found that Miller had been
martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial ...
two weeks before the war's end,
crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Carthaginians, ...
by a Japanese guard because of his faith. Near the end of the war, Dinty Moore was being transferred on a Japanese vessel that should have had Red Cross markings because it was a POW ship, not a warship. An Allied submarine sank it, not knowing that it was a POW ship. Cana Academy, canaacademy.org, Ernest Gordon: Building Heaven in the Midst of POW Hell, by Joseph Wood, October 27, 2017
/ref>


In popular culture

The book was also adapted into a film in 2001 under the title '' To End All Wars''.


See also

* '' The Bridge over the River Kwai'', a novel * ''
The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel ''The Bridge over the River Kwai'', written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but u ...
'', a film * ''Silence'' (Endō novel), a historical novel


References


External links


Ernest Gordon's ''To End All Wars''
British autobiographies Memoirs of imprisonment {{WWII-memoir-stub