Harris M.S. Miller (b. 1918)

Harris “Dusty” Miller is a native of Kent. He qualified in 1939 with a B.Sc. in Engineering from Woolwich Polytechnic. That year he joined the British Army and he discusses his wartime career, during which he worked in General Mountbatten’s headquarters. He met his future, a Cork lady named Neville, in Burma and he subsequently came to Ireland having obtained a position with Bord na Móna in 1946 as a Technical Development Supervisor. He recalls his job interview board, which included Aodhagan O’Rahilly, Todd Andrews, Robert Barton and T.S. Wheeler. He was assigned to the Experimental Station at Newbridge. Paddy Cogan, General Manager, accompanied Harris Miller as they travelled around the bogs. He also travelled overseas, and clearly recalls his trips to Russia, where he accessed information on the production of milled peat for the home market. He set up an International Peat Committee and remembers overseas visitors coming to the first symposium on the subject in Dublin. He is proud to discuss the development of a unique tractor and the Móna Jack Burner, which he feels is his major contribution to Bord na Móna.