William Johnstone Milne

William Johnstone Milne VC

William Johnstone Milne was born on 21 December 1892 at Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of David Milne and Agnes McCormick. He was educated in Scotland before emigrating to Canada in 1910. He eventually settled in Alberta, where he worked as a farm labourer before the outbreak of the First World War.

Milne enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Calgary on 12 September 1915 and was assigned to the 56th Battalion. After training in Canada and Britain, he proceeded to France on 16 June 1916. The following day he was transferred to the 16th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, and joined the battalion in the Ypres Salient on 20 June.

The 16th Battalion, widely known as the Canadian Scottish, was one of the Canadian Corps’ most distinguished infantry battalions. During the months that followed, Milne experienced the harsh realities of trench warfare on the Western Front as the Canadian Corps prepared for increasingly ambitious operations.

By the spring of 1917, the Canadians were preparing for an assault on Vimy Ridge, a heavily defended German position that dominated the surrounding countryside. Four Canadian divisions would attack together on 9 April in what became one of the best-known battles in Canadian military history.

Victoria Cross

On the morning of 9 April 1917, Private Milne advanced with the 16th Battalion during the opening assault on Vimy Ridge.

As the Canadians moved forward, a German machine gun opened fire from a fortified position and threatened the advance. Milne left the relative protection of his comrades and crawled forward alone on his hands and knees under intense enemy fire.

Reaching the position, he threw grenades into the emplacement, killing the machine-gun crew and capturing the weapon.

The advance resumed, but another machine gun soon opened fire.

Milne again went forward alone.

Under heavy fire, he crawled toward the second position and attacked it with grenades, putting the gun out of action and clearing another obstacle from the path of the advancing Canadians.

Shortly afterwards, while the battle continued around him, William Johnstone Milne was killed in action.

He was 24 years old.

For his extraordinary courage in attacking the two enemy machine-gun positions, Milne was awarded the Victoria Cross.

His citation, published in The London Gazette on 8 June 1917, recorded his conspicuous bravery in capturing two machine guns and stated that his actions materially assisted the advance of his company.

After the Victoria Cross

William Johnstone Milne was one of four members of the Canadian Corps awarded the Victoria Cross for actions during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

His body was not recovered from the battlefield, and today his name is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France among the Canadians killed in France during the First World War who have no known grave.

Milne’s medals are the Victoria Cross, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

His military career was brief. He had joined the 16th Battalion less than ten months before the attack on Vimy Ridge. Yet on 9 April 1917, confronted twice by machine guns capable of stopping the Canadian advance, the young private went forward alone.

William Johnstone Milne’s actions at Vimy Ridge cost him his life, but helped clear the way for the soldiers advancing behind him. His courage that morning secured his place among Canada’s Victoria Cross recipients and ensured that his name would remain forever associated with the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge.