[2] Born in 1906 in Inverness, Scotland, the son of an army captain killed in the First World War, Miers was educated at Stubbington House School in Gosport, Edinburgh Academy, and Wellington College.

He then served in the battleship HMS Iron Duke, before joining, as a lieutenant commander, the staff of the commander-in-chief, Home Fleet (1939–40), where he was mentioned in despatches.

In 1989 former Royal Naval officer and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy published his autobiography,[4] in which he describes "a submarine atrocity" on the night of 9 July 1941, which gave rise to the accusation of 'war crimes'.

[5] According to the accounts, on two separate occasions Miers ordered the machine-gunning of several shipwrecked German soldiers in rafts who had jumped overboard when their vessels were sunk by the Torbay.

[6] Miers also made no attempt to conceal his actions, his patrol log recording: "Submarine cast off, and with the Lewis gun accounted for the soldiers in the rubber raft to prevent them from regaining their ship..." When informed of Miers' actions, Flag Officer Submarines, Admiral Max Horton wrote to the Admiralty about the possibility of German reprisals: "As far as I am aware, the enemy has not made a habit of firing on personnel in the water or on rafts even when such personnel were members of the fighting services; since the incidents referred to in Torbay's report, he may feel justified in doing so.

[citation needed] According to historian Alfred-Maurice de Zayas in his 1979 work The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939–1945, the incident was one of several instances of the Royal Navy sinking Greek ships believed to be transporting German soldiers and then firing on survivors in the water or in lifeboats.

[7] By now, Miers had carried out nine successful patrols in HMS Torbay in the Mediterranean theatre, had received the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, and had been promoted to commander in December 1941.

When he had fired his torpedoes he was heavily counter-attacked and had to withdraw through a long channel with anti-submarine craft all round and continuous air patrols overhead.

[10] From December 1942 Miers served as submarine liaison officer to the American Pacific Fleet, and was later made a commander of the US Legion of Merit.