"Who can say they know someone who can thank the outbreak of World War Two for making their dreams come true? I can and I do".

These were the opening words by Peter Miller on a resent visit to 2438 Squadron Air Training Corps.

The cadets listened as Peter Miller told the cadets of his life's adventures and stories.

Born in Malta to a British Naval family in October 1917 Peter J Miller always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and join the Royal Navy. Loving the water and his fathers naval stories his dream of following in his fathers footsteps were shattered after learning he was colour blind.

Though he didn't want to do anything else as a career he decided that life on water was to be a distant dream so he set about becoming a doctor.

He trained as a General practitioner at St Bart's College in London by the time the Second World War broke out in 1939 Peter was loving life as a doctor though he still had his dream of joining the Royal Navy. In September 1940 he experienced the Blitz first hand and helped many injured service personnel and civilians through the terrible times.

Knowing that there was a national shortage of service personnel Peter set about fulfilling his life's dream of joining the Royal Navy once again.

Luckily for Peter even with his colour blindness because there was a demand for naval personnel he was offered a place as a naval surgeon on HMS Aphis in the seas around the Mediterranean, he jumped at the chance to join the Royal Navy and set about fulfilling his life long dream.

Built in 1915 HMS Aphis was a Royal Navy Insect class gunboat. The Insect class patrol boats were a class of small, but well-armed Royal Navy ships designed for use in shallow rivers or inshore.

The ships were designed to operate in shallow fast-flowing rivers, with a shallow draught and a good turn of speed to counter river flow. On Board the ship he was given the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant.

As ship's doctor he was to treat everything from tuberculosis to burns victims. Missing limbs, head trauma, flash burns and splinter wounds. Though, as this ship was based in the Mediterranean, life as the ships doctor was very quiet for him but he still enjoyed his life onboard the ship.

Once the war had finished Peter settled back into civilian life and moved to Rugby to open up his own General Practitioners until he retired in 1982.

During and after his talk Dr Peter Miller showed the cadets photographs of him self taken during the war and paintings he had done of HMS Aphis.

Commanding Officer Flight Lieutenant Nathan Adams said "This was an excellent opportunity for the Cadets to understand a first hand account of what it was like to serve as a Doctor on board a Royal Navy ship in the Second World War.

I think it is vitally important that the Cadets can have this experience whilst the generation that fought in the war can still pass on their experiences, so that the message from history can be passed on to future generations and not forgotten".

Dr Peter Miller still lives in Rugby and is the Chairman of the Rupert Brook Society and a County Surgeon for the St Johns Ambulance.