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On the side of the road in the village of Withnell, near Chorley, there is a memorial to Private James Miller. Miller won the Victoria Cross in 1916 in bravery that cost him his life but which was also immortalised in poetry.

He had already seen action with the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment in 1915 at Lens and Loos. In July 1916, his battalion was on the Somme at La Boiselle. On 30 July 30, Miller was ordered to take a message from the front line and to bring back a reply.
Despite being shot in the back almost straight away, he carried on. He delivered the message and somehow managed to return with the reply before dying from his wounds.

His Victoria Cross was presented to his father by King George V at Buckingham Palace.
Ellis Williams, who was a former Colour Sergeant in the King's Own, set Miller's actions to verse in a poem called "the Message". Copies were sold to raise funds for the British Red Cross Association.

James Miller's VC is now on display at the King's Own Royal Regiment in Lancaster.

Location: Withnell, Chorley, Lancashire PR6 8AZ
Image: Cover of James Miller's story, courtesy of Kings Own Royal Regiment Museum Lancaster

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