MILNER, Reginald
| Service Number: | 4780 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Bourke, New South Wales, Australia., 7 November 1887 |
| Home Town: | Bourke, Bourke, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Packer for Railway Permanent Way Branch (track worker) |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 15 April 1917, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
Vraucourt Copse Cemetery, Vaulx-Vraucourt Plot II, Row B, Grave 15 Headstone Inscription "INTO THY HANDS LORD I COMMEND HIS SPIRIT MAY JESUS RECEIVE HIS SOUL", |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4780, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4780, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
Help us honour Reginald Milner's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
Son of John Philip and Delia MILNER, of 36 Wilson Street, Redfern, New South Wales
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Reginald MILNER (Service Number 4780) was born on 7th November 1887 at Bourke. He began working with the Railways on 9th June 1914 as a packer in Sydney in the Permanent Way Branch. He was in that position for just over a year and a half before he was released from duty to join the AIF on 18th January 1916. He was 28-years-old when he enlisted. He embarked at Sydney on 13th April 1914, on HMAT A40 ‘Ceramic’.
By 28th May 1916, he was in Alexandria (Egypt). He transferred to HMT ‘Megantic’ for further passage to the United Kingdom. He disembarked at Plymouth on 7th June. After a few months in England, he embarked for France on 10th September. He was taken on the strength of the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion in Belgium on 24th September 1916. He was back in France by 27th November 1916. He was Absent Without Leave on that date. He was punished with 168 hours of field punishment No. 2.
On 6th December 1916, he was taken to hospital. Two days later, he was admitted in Amiens for Influenza. He stayed in hospital for about two months, before re-joining his Battalion in France on 26th January 1917.
After another three months in the field, he was wounded in action on 15th April 1917. On the same day, he was reported missing in action. Eventually, it was discovered that he had died on this day.
An eyewitness account states:
‘a shell landed near him, wounding him. He was taken to the dressing station but died there’.
He was 29 when he died. He was buried in Vraucourt Copse Cemetery, Vaulx-Vraucourt, Bullecourt, Picardie, France.
After his death, his mother was sent his war medals on his behalf. She received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.