Miles was born in Chelsea, London, the third son of Audley Charles Miles and Eveline Frances Cradock-Hartopp. He was the great-grandson of Philip John Miles and thus related to Philip Napier Miles, Frank Miles and Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet. He was educated at Bedford School, aboard HMS Britannia, and joined the Royal Navy in 1905 as a Midshipman. Specialising as a navigation officer, he first served aboard the ships HMS Victorious and HMS King Edward VII. From 1910 to 1912, Miles was lent to the Royal New Zealand Navy, and served on HMNZS Leander. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1911, and the following year was made the assistant to the navigator on HMS Neptune, the flagship of the Home Fleet, and was then made navigator of HMS Surprise on the China Station, serving there until 1914.
Navigation officer
During the First World War, Miles served as navigator of several ships, HMS Empress of Russia, an armed merchant cruiser in the Indian Ocean, HMS Botha, a cruiser in the Grand Fleet and HMS Fearless, a light cruiser in the Grand Fleet. In 1919, he received a promotion to Lieutenant-Commander. Miles then attended the Royal Navy Staff College aboard HMS President, and was assigned as a staff officer aboard HMS Coventry in 1920, under the Rear-Admiral Commanding Destroyers in the Atlantic Fleet. He was appointed as the navigating officer of the same ship in 1922 and was promoted to Commander two years later; he was also appointed the Squadron Navigating Officer in the Mediterranean Fleet. He was then assigned to the operations staff of the 3rd Battle Squadron in the Mediterranean and then to the staff of the Vice-Admiral Commanding 1st Battle Squadron & Vice-AdmiralSecond-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet. He served in this capacity aboard the battleship HMS Barham from 1926 to 1927. After eleven months of gyrocompass instruction at the Admiralty Compass Observatory, Miles was assigned as the navigation officer aboard the battlecruiser from January 1927 to May 1929, also serving as the Staff Officer and Squadron Navigating Officer, Battle Cruiser Squadron. He then attended the Staff College at Greenwich, and worked in the Plans Division of the Admiralty from November 1929 to August 1931, receiving a promotion to Captain in July 1931. From 1931 to 1932, he commanded the minesweeper HMS Pangbourne, then served as assistant director and acting director of the RN Staff College at Portsmouth from 1933 to 1935. Appointed as Captain 3rd Destroyer Flotilla and as Commanding Officer, HMS Codrington in 1935, Miles served in this capacity until July 1937, when he was assigned to the RN Tactical School at Portsmouth aboard HMS Victory. He first served there as assistant director and subsequently as director.
In August 1945, Miles was appointed as the Senior British Representative on the Tripartite Naval Commission in Berlin, simultaneously serving as Senior British Representative on the Tripartite Merchant Marine Commission. Early in 1946, he was appointed as the final Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy of the unified Royal Indian Navy, relinquishing his post on the day of Indian independence. He was appointed a KCSI in the 1948 New Year Honours for his service in India, becoming one of the final recipients of the order. Miles retired in April 1948 with the rank of Admiral. He was Chairman of the naval charity, the Royal Navy Club of 1765 and 1785, in 1953. He died on New Year's Eve, 1986 at Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, aged 96.
Personal life
On 22 February 1918, Miles married Alison Mary Cadell, the daughter of Henry Moubray Cadell, geologist and geographer, and Elinor Simson. The couple had two sons: Lieutenant-Commander Peter Tremayne Miles, RN and Lieutenant Archibald Geoffrey Miles, Royal Artillery.
