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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Sir Geoffrey Miles
|image=
|caption=
|birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1890|5|2}}
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1986|12|31|1890|5|2}}
|birth_place=[[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], [[London]]
|death_place=[[Holyport]], [[Maidenhead]], [[Berkshire]]
|placeofburial=
|placeofburial_label=Place of burial
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}} {{flag|British India}}
|branch={{navy|United Kingdom}} {{navy|British India}}
|serviceyears=1905–1948
|rank=[[Admiral]]
|unit=
|commands=[[HMS Pangbourne|HMS ''Pangbourne'']] (1931–1932) [[HMS Codrington (D65)|HMS ''Codrington'']] (1935–1937) Captain (D) [[3rd Destroyer Flotilla]] (Mediterranean) {{HMS|Nelson|28|6}} (1939–1941) Head of the British Military Mission in Moscow (1941–1943) Naval Force Commander, Eastern Expeditionary Force Deputy Naval Commander, South East Asia Command,East Indies Station Flag Officer, Western Mediterranean Senior British Representative on the Tripartite Naval Commission (Berlin) (concurrently Senior British Representative on the Tripartite Merchant Marine Commission) Flag Officer Commanding, [[Royal Indian Navy]] (1946–1947)
|battles=[[World War I]] [[World War II]]
|awards=Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath|KCB]] (1945) [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] (1948) Companion of the [[Order of the Bath|CB]] (1942) [[Legion of Honour]] (1944)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}

[[Admiral]] '''Sir Geoffrey John Audley Miles''', [[Order of the Bath|KCB]], [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] (2 May 1890 – 31 December 1986) was a senior [[Royal Navy]] admiral who served as Deputy Naval Commander, [[South East Asia Command]] under [[Lord Mountbatten]] during the [[Second World War]], as the Senior British Representative on the [[Tripartite Naval Commission]] and as the last [[Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy]] of the unified [[Royal Indian Navy]].

==Early life==
Miles was born in [[Chelsea, London]], the third son of Audley Charles Miles (1855–1919) and Eveline Frances Cradock-Hartopp (1856–1946).<ref name="unithistories1">{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=../officers/personsx.html |title=World War II unit histories & officers |publisher=Unithistories.com |accessdate=2015-03-06}}</ref> He was the great-grandson of [[Philip John Miles]] and thus related to [[Philip Napier Miles]], [[Frank Miles]] and [[Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet]]. He was educated at [[Bedford School]], aboard [[HMS Prince of Wales (1860)|HMS ''Britannia'']], and joined the [[Royal Navy]] in 1905 as a [[Midshipman]]. Specialising as a [[navigation officer]], he first served aboard the ships [[HMS Victorious (1895)|HMS ''Victorious'']] (1906–1908) and [[HMS King Edward VII|HMS ''King Edward VII'']] (1908–1910).<ref name="unithistories1"/> From 1910 to 1912, Miles was lent to the [[Royal New Zealand Navy]], and served on [[HMNZS Leander|HMNZS ''Leander'']].<ref name="unithistories1"/> He was promoted to [[Lieutenant]] in 1911, and the following year was made the assistant to the [[navigator]] on [[HMS Neptune (1909)|HMS ''Neptune'']], the [[flagship]] of the [[Home Fleet]], and was then made navigator of [[HMS Surprise (1885)|HMS ''Surprise'']] (HMS ''Alacrity'') on the China Station, serving there until 1914.<ref name="unithistories1"/>

==Navigation officer==
During the [[First World War]], Miles served as navigator of several ships, [[HMS Empress of Russia|HMS ''Empress of Russia'']], an [[armed merchant cruiser]] in the [[Indian Ocean]] (1914–1915), [[HMS Botha|HMS ''Botha'']], a [[cruiser]] in the [[Grand Fleet]] (1915–1916) and [[HMS Fearless (1912)|HMS ''Fearless'']], a [[light cruiser]] in the Grand Fleet (1916–1919). In 1919, he received a promotion to [[Lieutenant-Commander]].<ref name="unithistories1"/>

Miles then attended the [[Royal Navy Staff College]] aboard [[HMS President (shore establishment)|HMS ''President'']], and was assigned as a staff officer aboard [[HMS Coventry (D43)|HMS ''Coventry'']] in 1920, under the Rear-Admiral Commanding Destroyers in the [[Atlantic Fleet (United Kingdom)|Atlantic Fleet]]. He was appointed as the navigating officer of the same ship in 1922 and was promoted to [[Commander]] two years later;<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33007|supp=y|page=7|date=30 December 1924}}</ref> he was also appointed the Squadron Navigating Officer (Destroyers) in the [[Mediterranean Fleet]]. He was then assigned to the operations staff of the 3rd Battle Squadron in the Mediterranean (1925–1926) and then to the staff of the Vice-Admiral Commanding 1st Battle Squadron & Vice-Admiral Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet. He served in this capacity aboard the [[battleship]] [[HMS Barham (04)|HMS ''Barham'']] from 1926 to 1927.<ref name="unithistories1"/>

After eleven months of [[gyrocompass]] instruction at the [[Admiralty Compass Observatory]] ([[Ditton Park]], [[Langley, Berkshire|Langley]]), Miles was assigned as the navigation officer aboard the [[battlecruiser]] {{HMS|Hood|51|6}} from January 1927 to May 1929, also serving as the Staff Officer (Operations) and Squadron Navigating Officer, Battle Cruiser Squadron (Atlantic Fleet). He then attended the Staff College at Greenwich, and worked in the Plans Division of the Admiralty from November 1929 to August 1931, receiving a promotion to [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] in July 1931.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33732|page=4340|date=3 July 1931}}</ref> From 1931 to 1932, he commanded the [[minesweeper]] [[HMS Pangbourne|HMS ''Pangbourne'']], then served as assistant director and acting director of the RN Staff College at Portsmouth from 1933 to 1935.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/bio/british/Miles_GJA_01_s.JPG |format=JPG |title=JPG Image |publisher=Unithishistories.com |accessdate=2015-03-06}}</ref> Appointed as Captain (D) [[3rd Destroyer Flotilla]] (Mediterranean) and as Commanding Officer, [[HMS Codrington (D65)|HMS ''Codrington'']] in 1935, Miles served in this capacity until July 1937, when he was assigned to the RN Tactical School at Portsmouth aboard [[HMS Victory|HMS ''Victory'']]. He first served there as assistant director (1937–1938) and subsequently as director (1938–1939).<ref name="unithistories1"/>

==Wartime==
In July 1939, Miles was appointed as commanding officer of the battleship {{HMS|Nelson|28|6}} and as the [[Flag Captain]], [[Home Fleet]], in which capacity he served for the first half of the war. He was promoted to [[Rear-Admiral]] in 1941 and was appointed as the Naval [[aide-de-camp]] to [[George VI]] from January through July 1941. He was appointed a [[Order of the Bath|CB]] in the [[1942 Birthday Honours]] and headed the British Military Mission to the [[Soviet Union]] from June 1941 through March 1943.<ref name="unithistories1"/> He then served on the staff of the [[Commander-in-Chief, Levant]] in [[Alexandria, Egypt]] until July, then as Naval Force Commander, Eastern Expeditionary Force, at [[Bombay]] until December. On 20 December, he was appointed as Deputy Naval Commander, [[South East Asia Command]] under [[Lord Mountbatten]] on 20 December, headquartered at [[New Delhi]]. In March 1944, Miles was promoted to [[Vice-Admiral]], and in July 1944, was appointed Flag Officer, Western Mediterranean, (RN base, [[Taranto, Italy]]) where he concluded his wartime service. He was [[knighted]] with the [[Order of the Bath|KCB]] in the [[1945 Birthday Honours]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37119|supp=y|page=2935|date=8 June 1945}}</ref> and also appointed a Knight of the [[Legion of Honour]] by the French government for his service in the Mediterranean.<ref name="unithistories1"/>

==Postwar==
In August 1945, Miles was appointed as the Senior British Representative on the Tripartite Naval Commission in [[Berlin]], simultaneously serving as Senior British Representative on the Tripartite Merchant Marine Commission. Early in 1946, he was appointed as the final [[Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy]] of the unified [[Royal Indian Navy]], relinquishing his post on the day of [[Partition of India|Indian independence]]. He was appointed a [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] in the [[1948 New Year Honours]] for his service in India, becoming one of the final recipients of the order.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38161|supp=y|page=5|date=30 December 1947}}</ref>

Miles retired in April 1948 with the rank of [[Admiral]]. He was Chairman of the naval charity, the Royal Navy Club of 1765 and 1785 (United 1889), in 1953.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalnavyclub.org/History.html |title=History |publisher=The Royal Navy Club |accessdate=2015-03-06}}</ref> He died on New Year's Eve, 1986 at [[Holyport]], [[Maidenhead]], [[Berkshire]], aged 96.<ref name="unithistories1"/>

==Personal life==
On 22 February 1918, Miles married Alison Mary Cadell (13 October 1898 – 20 May 1981), the daughter of Henry Moubray Cadell (1860–1934), geologist and geographer, and Elinor Simson (1868–1943). The couple had two sons: [[Lieutenant-Commander]] Peter Tremayne Miles, RN (1920–1995) and [[Lieutenant]] Archibald Geoffrey Miles, Royal Artillery (1922–1993).<ref name="unithistories1"/>

==Honours==
<div class="center">
(ribbon bar, as it would look today)

[[File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg|100px]]

[[File:1000px ribbon bar of the Order of Maria Anna.svg|100px]]
[[File:1914 1915 Star ribbon bar.svg|100px]]
[[File:British War Medal BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Ribbon, World War I Victory Medal.svg|100px]]

[[File:39-45 Star BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Atlantic Star BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Africa Star BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Burma Star BAR.svg|100px]]

[[File:Italy Star BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Defence Medal BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:War Medal 39-45 BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Naval General Service Medal 1915 BAR.svg|100px]]

[[File:King George V Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg|100px]]
[[File:GeorgeVICoronationRibbon.png|100px]]
[[File:Indian Independence medal 1947.svg|100px]]
[[File:Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg|100px]]

</div>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=[[Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy|Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy]]|after=[[John Talbot Savignac Hall|John Hall]]|before=[[John Henry Godfrey|John Godfrey]]|years=1946–1947}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Geoffrey John Audley}}
[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Royal Indian Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Bedford School]]
[[Category:Military personnel from London]]

Geoffrey Audley Miles - Revision history

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