Name
Charles Milton
10 July 1899
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
24/02/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
51784
Royal Fusiliers *1
11th (County of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ST. SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, ROUEN
O.VI.L.3
France
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Bishop's Stortford Town Memorial, United Reformed Church Memorial, Bishop's Stortford
Pre War
Charles Milton was born on 16 June 1892 in Bishop's Stortford to Samuel and Clara Milton and baptised on 31 July 1892 in Bishop's Stortford.
In 1901, Charles, aged 8, was living with his parents and siblings at Benhooks Farm. On the 1911 Census Charles was aged 19, living with his parents and sister at 105 Apton Road, Bishop's Stortford and working as a stationer’s errand boy. Charles was employed in the printing office of the Herts & Essex Observer before he enlisted.
Living in Bishop’s Stortford at time of enlistment
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Bishop's Stortford and served initially with the 225th Middlesex Regiment (Service number 6887), later transferring to the Royal Fusiliers.
He had been in France since December 1916. He suffered a severe gunshot wound to his arm which resulted in blood poisoning from which he died.
As Charles was employed in the printing office of the Herts & Essex Observer before he enlisted, the following tribute and photo appeared in the paper on March 10th 1917 and are quoted verbatim:-
"Private Charles Milton of the Royal Fusiliers…..was the youngest son of Mr. & Mrs. S. Milton of Apton Road and was well known in his native town. He was 25 years old and single. For many years he was employed in the printing office of this journal, And relinquished his work here last July to join the Army. Always of a bright and cheerful disposition, deceased was highly respected by his fellow workers and it can be said of him that in the discharge of his duties he was always most assiduous and painstaking. The greatest sympathy is extended to his parents, who have two other sons, Privates Robert and Arthur Milton, now serving. The first mentioned, Robert, is a married man with three children and is now at Salonica with his regiment, the Iniskilling Fusiliers; while Arthur, who is serving in France, is in the transport section of the Bedfordshire Regiment, and was wounded in the battle of Loos in 1915. The news of Private Milton’s death was contained in a letter from the Sister of the ward of the hospital in which he died. She writes:-
I wrote to you yesterday telling you your son…..was seriously ill in this ward, and today it is my sorrowful duty to say he died early this morning. He had a very severe gunshot wound in his right arm. Blood poisoning set in; the arm was amputated but the end could not be averted……This is a cruel war and my heart often aches for all mothers and wives. Yours is indeed the hardest part, next to the men who are giving their lives and limbs.” Private Milton had been in France since December, where he was transferred to the Royal Fusiliers from the Middlesex Regiment, which he joined in July last year."
Additional Information
His father received a war gratuity of £3 and pay owing of £3 1s 2d.
*1 Believed more correctly, (County of London) Bn. London Regiment (Finsbury Rifles).
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jenny Clough
