The story of Ray Miles began early in the 20^th century in the quiet rural township of Mole Creek.  It then extended half way round the world to the battle grounds of the Middle East and the prison camps of Asia and ended back where it began in the  rugged Tasmanian highlands and the picturesque farming valley of Liena.  It is a story of an ordinary man who cherished the simple upbringing of a rural lifestyle but who had to deal with extraordinary experiences through his life’s journey.

Ray Vincent Miles was born on 27^th June 1919 to parents Effie (nee Walters) and Nicholas Miles who raised a family of four children.  Ray was born in Mole Creek and commenced his schooling at 8 years of age. Early in life Ray was given the nick-name of “Boy” which remained an affectionate term of endearment for the rest of his life.  He was also known to some as “Santa”.  The origin of both these nick-names is not known.

Born and raised in the shadow of the Great Western Tiers, and despite often hard times for his parents, Ray had a care-free childhood. He learned to ride horses and handle cattle and he spent happy times fishing and hunting on the mountain with his father, uncles and brothers. This instilled in Ray a deep love of the bush and a keen sense of understanding for the high country. Ray Miles was a strong young man with a reasonably tall, lean physique. He was almost 5ft 10ins in height (or in today’s terms 178cms). After leaving school, when he wasn’t hunting or fishing in the mountains, he spent his days as a farm labourer and a bushman.  He was a happy-go-lucky young man with a great sense of humour and plenty of mischief in his nature.

With the outbreak of the Second World War Ray’s life was to take a very different path. In November 1939 just a couple of months after the commencement of the war he applied for acceptance into the armed forces. His initial application was rejected. However, undeterred, within six months Ray had re-applied and this time he was successful and was enlisted into the Australian Army on 4^th June 1940. Private Ray Miles TX3058 was recruited to C Company and was subsequently attached to the 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion. His initial training for overseas service commenced at the Brighton Army Barracks approx 30kms from Hobart while the final months of preparation took place at the Wayville Military District in South Australia.

In April 1941 Pte Miles travelled from Adelaide to Sydney for embarkation aboard the H.M.Transport M.M. and a month after leaving Australian shores C Company disembarked at Port Tewfik on the Suez Canal in Egypt.  Over the course of the next eight months, Ray Miles’ tour of duty with C Company took him to Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Israel and it has been reported that Ray was a resourceful, reliable and efficient soldier and was liked and respected by his fellow soldiers.

The time served in the Middle East must have been a reality check for young Ray and no doubt his thoughts would have turned often to his home land and the mountains he loved so much.  However, despite the conflict he had seen to date, nothing on earth could have prepared him for the next episode in his army career.

In February 1942, Pte Miles and the 2/3^rd Machine Gun Battalion sailed from Port Tewfik in Egypt and arrived in the Dutch East Indies.  Supplied with old rifles and limited ammunition they found themselves hopelessly ill-equipped and out-numbered to take on the might of the Japanese infantry.  After a few very short weeks the men of C Company had become prisoners-of-war and their fate now lay in the hands of the Japanese. It was March 1942.

For the next 3½ years, Pte Miles’ existence would be a constant shuffle between various prison camps in different S.E. Asian countries and a constant struggle to overcome starvation and to survive the mental and physical abuse dealt on a daily basis.  Initially Pte Ray Miles and his mates remained in Java with time spent at various prisoner-of-war camps including Changi and the Hintok Mountain Camps while working on the now infamous “Death Railway”.

In September 1944 the prisoners were transferred to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp at Ohama on the island of Honshu.  For almost twelve months they were forced to work in 8 hour shifts in an under-sea coal mine which presented a new set of difficulties to deal with.  It was a monotonous routine of dangerous work and the weakened bodies were easily prone to accidents, particularly crushed hands and broken limbs.  The men who had come from the tropical heat of Burma to a bitterly cold Japanese winter now added pneumonia and bronchitis to the long list of health issues. Tuberculosis was a growing problem amongst the men as were mental breakdowns and psychological problems.  There was a shortage of food and starvation and malnutrition was endemic. Nearly all the prisoners were effected with internal parasites and the severe malnutrition caused additional complications such as loss of co-ordination, loss of balance and diminished sense of taste and smell.

Finally – on 15^th August 1945 the prisoners at Ohama received the news that the war was over! After 3½ years as a prisoner of war, Ray Miles learned he was going home.

Pte. Ray Miles arrived into Woolloomooloo, Sydney on 14^th October 1945.  A few days later he sailed to Tasmania aboard the Nairana.  He was honourably discharged from the Army on 18^th December 1945.  A “Welcome Home” was held in the Mole Creek Hall to acknowledge his return to the district and to let him know that the community recognised his war effort and the years he had forfeited as a prisoner-of-war.

Ray “Boy” Miles was home.  He now had to adjust from an ordeal which was beyond description to the ‘normality’ of life under the mountains where he could once again be a son, brother, uncle and nephew to his large extended family and a mate and hunting companion to his wider circle of friends.  It was never going to be an easy transition but Ray got on with life, rarely talking about his Army days. He appeared to hold no bitterness. He found employment with the Forestry Commission but his love of the bush was as strong as ever.

The trapping of wallabies and possums in the Tasmanian high country and the sale of the skins enabled men to substantially boost their family incomes. Snaring was particularly popular amongst farmers and rural dwellers who would head into the mountains for a period ranging from several weeks to a few months during the winter period – June, July, August.  The colder the winter, the better the fur quality – and the better the fur quality, the higher the price. While a successful season could mean big money for the snarer, it was a tough existence under severe weather conditions. Boy relished the isolation and the solitude and while some of his snaring days were spent in the company of others, including his brother Dick, Boy was always at peace and content with the company of his dog and the privacy the bush afforded him. The men who went into the mountains to hunt generally had an unwritten understanding as to their own areas and respected each other’s territories.  Hunting seasons were regulated and snaring runs were frequently checked by bailiffs. Snarers were required to monitor their snare lines at consistent intervals and fines were imposed for anyone found in breach of the rule. Regular snarers also had competition from poachers who hunted outside the season and secreted the skins in hiding places such as caves, hollow logs and even purposely built ‘hide’ huts.  In the immediate post-war years, Boy set snares in an area which encompassed George Howes Lake through to Lake Ball and Lake Adelaide and he and brother Dick would base themselves at their hut (now known as Trappers Hut) on the track to the Walls of Jerusalem. During his snaring career Boy covered many areas including Maggs Mt., Borradaile Plains, Walters Marsh, and the Dublin and Little Fisher areas and even had a season at The Paddocks. He also practiced snaring at Clumner Bluff but only ever penetrated half way up the mountain so as not to interfere with the breeding grounds of the wallabies and possums which were on the upper reaches.  Despite Boy’s prowess and passion for hunting, he was also a conservationist with a deep love for the native animals.

Various snares were employed by different snarers but Boy preferred the use of necker snares and drag snares and was an expert in the art of setting each type.  Snares would be set on established animal runs and consisted of a wire noose which caught the animal by the neck.  The sudden springing action of a released snare brought about the swift and efficient death of the animal. An animal caught cleanly also meant no damage to the pelt and ensured the ultimate goal of obtaining the best price possible. The day’s catch would be skun and the skins pegged on the walls to dry by an open fire in the skin shed of the hut.  Presumably wallaby hind quarters made it into many a camp oven and the snarer’s dogs and/or the native devils lived well on the discarded carcasses.

Boy retired from the Forestry Commission in 1970 having worked on and off over a number of years in various roles – tree falling, building fire breaks, road making, and on fire look-out duties.  He pursued his passion for hunting and continued to build huts to the very end.  Late in the summer of 1978, Boy suffered a heart attack and passed away in his Dublin hut, just short of his 59^th birthday.