Several huts found on the Great Western Tiers are the result of one man’s passion for the central plateau. Ray Vernon ‘Boy’ Miles grew up in Liena and Mole Creek and spent his youth with his brother and father, fishing and hunting in the mountains, and this instilled in him a deep love of the bush and a keen sense of understanding for the high country.

Ray ‘Boy’ Miles enlisted in the Army in June 1940 and, in 1942, was taken prisoner-of-war. He spent three years on the infamous Burma Railway, where he was treated cruelly and maliciously and suffered immense mental and physical pain and torture at the hands of the Japanese. With the end of the war in 1945, Boy was released by the Japanese and discharged from the Army, whereupon he returned to his home under the mountains. The heinous nature of Boy’s physical injuries and the mental scars he carried when he returned home were such that he sought, and found, solace and peace in the mountains.

At the time of his death in February 1978, aged 59, Boy Miles was building a hut on Deception Plain in the Little Fisher River Valley.  Due to his untimely death, the hut was never finished and what remains is a poignant reminder of his legacy and of one man’s love affair with the mountains.

In early 2007, MHPS made application to the Parks and Wildlife Service to complete construction of this hut, to acknowledge the sacrifice made by Boy and to honour his name and his contribution to the local mountain heritage. It was deeply disappointing when permission was denied. Subsequently, MHPS submitted a project draft to PWS requesting permission to construct a shelter over the remains to protect them from further decay. This was also denied by PWS, due to the World Heritage Status of the area.

At the suggestion of PWS, a liquid environmental timber preservative was recommended to treat the logs, with the hope of extending their life. PWS  airlifted the drums of preservative agent into the site and, in April 2007, MHPS members applied the solution to the remains of the logs on Boy Miles’ partially built hut.

In March 2009 MHPS members placed a bronze memorial plaque at the site to commemorate the life and legacy of Boy Miles.