Memorial details

Memorial type
Board / Plaque / Tablet
District
Sefton
Town
Southport
County
Merseyside
Country
England
Commemoration
Second World War (1939-1945)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: August 1946
    Attended by: Major M.J. Egan, His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, performed the unveiling; among those present were the Chief Constable and officers, plus Miller Smith's mother.
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
87765

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Current location

Merseyside Police Station
Albert Road
Southport
Sefton
Merseyside
PR9 0LL
England

OS Grid Ref: SD 34198 17810
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
Topped by the Southport Borough Police crest, a photograph of Miller Smith is flanked by the crests of the Coldstream Guards and No2 Commandos. Beneath is the citation, followed by a depiction of the No2 Commando beret badge. Within the mount below is a further inscription. The whole memorial is in a glazed frame.
Inscription
(Main inscription): In Memoriam/ SERGEANT MILLER SMITH/ A gallant comrade who gave his life to the Glory of God,/ his King and his Country whilst taking part in an operation/ in September 1942 directed against a hydro-electric power/ station at Glomfjord, Norway, in company with eleven other/ British and Norwegian troops. The force was landed/ from a submarine on the 15th September and on the night/ of the 20th September succeeded in blowing up the power/ station. The force then began to make its way towards the/ Swedish frontier, but after a short distance had been covered/ a German patrol made an attack which made it necessary for/ the force to split up so that each individual might have a chance/ of escaping. Four members of the party managed to reach/ the frontier and were subsequently repatriated./ The remainder including Miller Smith were captured and/ subsequently shot as a reprisal. (Smaller inscription, inset into the mount beneath): Sergeant Miller Smith - Coldstream Guards/ also served as a Constable in the/ Southport County Borough Police.
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Smith, Miller
See details
Commemorations
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 1
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 1
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Forename, surname, Army rank, place and date of capture, manner of death
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Memorial
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Paper, Card
  • Frame
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Wood
Listing information
Condition
History
The Police Station in Albert Road, Southport is the former site of Southport Borough Police HQ, where the memorial was erected.
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Responsibility
Merseyside Police
Reference
  • Southport County Borough Police 1870-1969, by Charles A. Darwin (Published by Lancashire Police in 1969): page 97 recorded that the unveiling of the memorial had taken place at Southport Police HQ in August 1946, and that Miller Smith's mother had donated two trophies for local schoolchildren's annual Road Safety competitions. (The paragraph mentioned that Miller Smith was the only serving Southport Police officer to have died on active service in World War 2).
  • Southport Visitor 17/9/2010: reported the circumstances of Miller Smith's arrest and execution in Germany by the SS while a Prisoner of War. (Having been held along with his fellow raiders first at Trondheim Prison, then the Gestapo Prison in Oslo, then at Colditz Castle in Saxony, then at Reich Central Security Headquarters in Berlin, and finally at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp on the outskirts of Berlin, from whence they were taken out and executed by a shot to the back of the neck).
  • Lancashire Evening Post 15/6/1946 (page 4) reported: "Southport Police Give Safety- First Trophies. Southport Police Force are to award two trophies annually to the town’s children who win safety-first quiz competitions. They are a silver rose bowl for the seniors, and a silver cup for the Juniors. . Southport Police athletic fund is bearing the cost. They will be known as the Miller Smith trophies, in memory of Staff-Sergeant Miller Smith, formerly of the Southport force, who joined the Army at the outbreak of war and eventually became a commando. Capture during a raid in Norway he was later killed by the Germans. His name was mentioned at the Nuremberg trials in the indictment against Field- Marshals Keitel and Jodl. The awards will probably be presented at the Southport Safety First Exhibition, to be staged at a cost of £5OO, in the Floral Hall on July 8th to 20th". www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000711/19460615/116/0004 (See our record 95273 re the silver cup and rose-bowl memorial).

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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