Lieutenant-Colonel Allister Miller (1892–1951) was a South African aviation pioneer, who contributed significantly to both military and civil aviation in South Africa during the first half of the twentieth century. He originally qualified as an electrical engineer. On the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, he joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, from which he transferred to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

as a pilot, in 1915. He fought in the skies over the Western Front in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and during 1916–17 he returned to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on recruiting tours for the RFC. He recruited more than 8,000 volunteers, of whom 2,000 were accepted, most of them as pilots. They were known collectively as "Miller's Boys". On the second recruitment drive, Miller took along two

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including establish ...

aircraft and mechanics to assemble the aircraft in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. The aircraft were serial numbers A3109 and A3110 built by Wolseley Motors Limited. They were nicknamed Rio de Janeiro Britons Nos. 1 & 2 in honour of the fact that they were purchased with money raised by the British community in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. On 8 November 1917, one of these aircraft became the first to complete a long distance flight in South Africa by completing a

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

flight in under six hours. After the war, Miller pursued a career in civil aviation. His first two ventures were unsuccessful and short-lived: the ''South African Aerial Navigation Company'', which became ''South African Aerial Transports Ltd'' (1919–1920), and ''Rhodesian Aerial Tours'' (1922). In 1924, Miller was elected as a Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In this capacity, he successfully lobbied for government support for civil aviation. He gave flying demonstrations, toured the country to popularise flying, and encouraged the formation of flying clubs. In 1929, Miller founded ''

Union Airways Union Airways of South Africa was the first South African commercial airline. It operated as an independent company for five years, from 1929 to 1934, before being taken over by the government as South African Airways. History Union Airways w ...

'', as the country's first commercial mail and passenger carrier. It amalgamated with South West African Airways in 1932, and was nationalised in 1934 and renamed ''

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. Founded in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and operated a hub-and-spoke network, serving ten destin ...

''. In 1936, Miller took part in the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

-to-

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

Air Race, held to mark Johannesburg's Golden Jubilee. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Miller served in the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

, where he commanded several flying schools. After the war, he worked as chief publicity officer for ''

''. The main road leading to the airport in his home town,

, is named after him.

References

* Illsley, J.W. (2003). ''In Southern Skies''. * ''Dictionary of South African Biography'' Vol III (1977).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Allister 1892 births 1951 deaths South African Air Force personnel Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) South African Officers of the Order of the British Empire South African Air Force personnel of World War II