With the death of Chris Vernon-Miller, the Regiment has lost one of its most stalwart members.
As ‘C’ Squadron leader during the tough battle around Sidi Rezegh in November 1941, he slogged it out with Rommel’s superior armour, moving his squadron perilously close in order effectively to hold off the attack.
In this action, he lost a leg. This effectively ended his career as a soldier, a career otherwise likely to have taken him far.
Short as his career was, he was nevertheless twice Mentioned in Despatches.
Chris had joined the 8th Hussars in 1926, serving in England and on the Rhine, before going to Egypt with the Regiment in 1934.
In Cairo, he was in his element. Horses being the centrepiece of his life, the task he took on of schooling and preparing 60 green Whaler ponies was right down his street.
With his talented Riding School staff, headed by the redoubtable Sergeant Major Bob Duncan, he soon brought the ponies to match perfection. Beautifully mounted, the Regiment was many times winners of The Inter Regimental, Open and Subalterns’ Cups.
One reason why he was able so quickly to bring on these ponies was due to his obtaining permission from Prince Omar Toussoun for the Regiment to use his private polo ground on the outskirts of Cairo for practice chukkas and stick and ball.
For years the Prince had not been on speaking terms with officers of the Cavalry Brigade – not without reason – as one of them had once referred to him as ‘That wog’. Chris made friends with him, and the ground became an 8th Hussar preserve.
Every young officer benefited from the immense trouble he took in coaching them He himself, a handicapped 5 goal player, made trouble for the Secretary of the Gezira Club who had to fit him in for 20 chukkas 3 times a week.
Chris enjoyed life in all its aspects.
Possessed of a happy nature and a ready sense of humour, Chris’s friends were legion. As a horseman and horse Master, he was in the very top rank.
