Philip Miles

Brigadier-General Philip John Miles, CB, CMG, FRGS, (23 December 1864 – 26 December 1948) was a British officer of the Indian Army during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. After an early career serving on the North-West Frontier and in Central Asia, he rose to command brigades during the First World War and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Early life and career Miles was born on 23 December 1864, the eldest son of a rural curate. His father, Philip John Miles, was the curate of Little Bytham in Lincolnshire, and had married Elinor Sarah Jex-Blake, a clergyman's daughter, on 3 February of the same year. After being educated at Shrewsbury School, Miles joined the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1885 but, after two years service, transferred to the Indian Army as an officer in the 45th (Rattrays) Sikhs. He served in the Hazara Expedition of 1888, the First Miranzai Expedition of 1891, and in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.