Boer War Queen’s South Africa Medal – Lieutenant (later Captain) Herbert Wardlaw Milne, Duke of Connaught’s Own Sligo Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia), later 74th Punjabis attd. Captain and Adjutant 6th Bn. Cameron Highlanders – K.I.A Battle of Loos 27th September 1915
Queen’s South Africa Medal, 2 clasps (loose), Cape Colony and South Africa 1902 - LIEUT: H. W. MILNE. R.G.A. MIL:
Herbert Wardlaw Milne was born in January 1883 at Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, the youngest son of James Milne, banker, and Elizabeth Milne. At the time of the 1891 Census the family were residing at 22 Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh. His father, aged 63, was recorded as a banker, and Herbert, aged eight, was listed as a scholar.
He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, where he is recorded in the school roll as having entered in 1898. His photograph later appeared in the school’s Roll of Honour following his death in the Great War.
Milne was commissioned into the Duke of Connaught’s Own Sligo Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) on 14 January 1902. During the later stages of the South African War he served on attachment to the 3rd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, taking part in operations in Cape Colony between March and May 1902. For this service he was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with two clasps: Cape Colony and South Africa 1902.
He was promoted Lieutenant on 12 April 1902. In 1903 he was appointed to the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. On 4 October 1905 he transferred to the Indian Army and joined the 74th Punjabis. He was promoted Captain in 1912. During his service in India he was present at the Delhi Durbar of 1911 and received the Delhi Durbar Medal.
At the outbreak of the Great War Milne was home on furlough. In August 1914 he was attached to the 5th Battalion, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. When the 6th Battalion Cameron Highlanders was raised in September 1914, he was appointed Adjutant. A contemporary group photograph of the battalion’s officers taken in 1914 shows Captain Milne seated beside Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Douglas-Hamilton, the battalion’s commanding officer.
The 6th Camerons landed in France in July 1915 as part of the 45th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division. During the Battle of Loos, on 26–27 September 1915, the battalion was heavily engaged in the attack on Hill 70. On 27 September 1915 Captain Herbert Wardlaw Milne was killed in action. Contemporary reports state that he was killed while leading a charge, and that he fell alongside his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas-Hamilton, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the same engagement.
Milne’s death was widely reported in the press. He was described as the youngest son of the late James Milne, banker, of Helensburgh, and of Mrs Milne of Bedford House, New Barnet. His age at death was given as thirty-two.
For his service during the Great War he was posthumously Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette, 1 January 1916). His name appears in the Register of Soldiers’ Effects in close sequence with that of Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas-Hamilton, reflecting their deaths in the same action.
Captain Milne has no known grave and is commemorated on the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial, Panel 10, which records officers and men of the Indian Army who fell on the Western Front and whose graves are unknown.
His career reflects that of a professional officer of the late Victorian and Edwardian Army: Militia commission, South African War service, transfer to the Indian Army, ceremonial duty at the Delhi Durbar, and finally attachment to a New Army Scottish battalion during the opening year of the Great War.
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