'William Johnstone Milne'
VC (
December 21,
1892-
April 9,
1917), was a
Canadian soldier in
World War I who
posthumously received the
Victoria Cross for the highest gallantry against the enemy during action in
France on
9 April,
1917.
Details
Milne was born December 21, 1892 in Scotland and moved to Canada in 1910. He worked on a farm near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan before joining the army.
One of the four soldiers that earned the Victoria Cross in the
Battle of Vimy Ridge, (the others were
Thain Wendell MacDowell,
Ellis Wellwood Sifton and
John George Pattison), Milne was 24 years old, and a
private in the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion,
Canadian Expeditionary Force. On
9 April 1917 near
Thelus, France, Milne saw an enemy machine-gun firing upon fellow troops. Crawling on hands and knees he managed to reach the gun, kill the crew, and capture the gun. Milne later repeated this action against a second enemy machine-gun crew, but was killed shortly afterwards.
Further information
Since Milne was born in Scotland he is also considered Scottish.
The medal
Milne's Victoria Cross is displayed at the
Canadian War Museum in
Ottawa.
See also
★
Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
★
The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
★
Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
External links
★
News Item ''(Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) regimental museum VC exhibition)''
★
WILLIAM JOHNSTONE MILNE ''(service/personal details, photographs, citation, relevant documents, burial information)''
★
Legion Magazine Article on William Johnstone Milne
★
Find-A-Grave profile for William Johnstone Milne