John Anthony Miller
Corporal John Anthony Miller was a British Army explosives expert. Prior to World War II, he'd been a chemistry teacher. He was picked by Commodore James Jensen to be a member of Keith Mallory's team on Navarone. He was good friends with Major Roy Franklin and was appalled by Mallory's callous treatment of Franklin when he was wounded following their arrival on the island, especially when Mallory falsely told Franklin the mission was being canceled before leaving him to be captured by the Germans so that he'd give them the wrong information when interrogated. Miller fiercely considered this "using" Franklin, and openly confronted Mallory over it at one point, saying he wished he would get the chance to "use" Mallory the way Mallory had used Franklin.
A cynical man, Miller spent most of the mission lazing about not doing anything terribly productive, earning Mallory's mounting disgust. When it turned out Greek resistance member Anna was a traitor who'd sabotaged Miller's explosive devices, it was Miller who figured out she was the turncoat. Seeing his chance to get revenge on Mallory for his callous discarding of Franklin earlier, Miller angrily demanded that Mallory execute Anna, who he could tell Mallory had grown fond of. Mallory refused, but a furious and smug Miller pressed the issue.
Maria Pappadimos solved the dispute by shooting Anna herself. This shocked Miller and made him feel ashamed. After Anna's death, an angry Mallory told Miller he was tired of him being a naysayer and a detriment to their mission and always questioning him. He said that Jensen had told him he was a genius with explosives, and that because Miller had gotten him pumped up and eager to kill, he'd better start proving that genius or else Miller just might be the next person he killed. Miller meekly conceded. He and Mallory donned pilfered German officers' uniforms (Miller's in particular had come from the SS officer Captain Sessler) and infiltrated the gun fortress. Miller planted his explosives, and then he and Mallory escaped by jumping into the sea, where they were rescued by Maria driving a stolen German patrol boat. Miller's explosives went off, destroying the entire German fortress and the guns of Navarone.
