Robert Strahan Milne was born in Fraserborough, Aberdeenshire Scotland, the son of Franklin and Deboris Anne Bell. He came to Canada with his family and settled in southern Ontario. His declared his trade as painter when he enlisted in London, Ontario in May 1940. He was married at the time and living in Mooretown, Ontario.
Robert completed sapper training in Camp Petawawa but got off to a bad start serving 10-days Confined to Barracks (CB) for being Absent Without Leave (AWOL). He was later given a one-day pass to visit home before shipping to the UK in February 1941, but received another two days CB and forfeited a day’s pay for returning late.
Robert was initially assigned to the 16th Field Company and trained with them in England. He was promoted to corporal more in 1942 but reverted back to sapper as a result of a medical condition.
In May 1944, he was posted to 1st Canadian Army Engineer Platoon and arrived in France in late July. He was later osted to the 11th Field Company as part of 2nd Canadian Division Engineers on 1 August. The 11th Field Company arrived in France in July as part of 2nd Canadian Division Engineers and had participated fully in all operations during the Battle of Normandy and the advance across the Seine, through the Channel Ports and into Belgium, clearing routes and building bridges. In late September, they moved north of Antwerp in preparation for the Battle of the Scheldt. The battle officially began on 2 October 1944 when the 2nd Canadian Division crossed the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal to clear the Beveland approaches, but for the RCE, the Battle of the Scheldt started a few days day earlier.
On the night of 30 September, the 11th Field Company struggled under fire to build an 80-foot Class 40 bridge across the canal just west of a weaken bridge built the night before by the 7th Field Company near Lockenberg. The task was costly when a direct hit on the bank seat party killed two and wounded four more, three of whom would die of wounds that day. Continued mortaring slowed the work during the day, but the bridge was open to traffic before the evening.
Sapper Robert Strahan Milne was killed instantly by the blast. He is buried in the Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery in Holland. Later in 1948, the Belgium Government awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palme 1940 to Sapper Milne in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the liberation of that country. The medal was presented by the Belgian Embassy to his wife in Ottawa. He is also gratefully remembered today as a “Son of Waterloo” and his picture hangs on the Memorial Wall in the City Hall in Waterloo, Ontario.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt
