54571 Gnr Edward William Brown OR Milward, IV Bde, RFA

Arrived Overseas: 14 October 1914.

Connection: Victory Medal.

Years ago I swore I'd never buy a single medal that had been disunited from its group. But I was young[er] and foolish then, and have since bought hundreds of single medals, and even re-united a couple. For those starting out on their medal collecting hobby, and even for grizzled old hoarders like me, the Victory Medal from the 1914-1918 War can offer hours of researching pleasure for a very modest investment and, besides which, like all British designed medals - and perhaps some from other countries too - it's an object of aesthetic beauty.

This particular Victory Medal, which cost me £28 in March 2022, was once owned and earned by 54571 Gunner Edward Brown of the Royal Field Artillery. He'd joined the regiment on the 20th January 1909 under his real name of Milward, deserted in 1910, and then almost immediately re-joined under the alias of Brown. He served overseas with IV Bde RFA in the 7th (Meerut) Division from the 14th October 1914, having been stationed in India since 1909. The cold of France and Flanders muct have been a real shock to the system when he arrived there in the early autumn of 1914.

Edward survived the war and, married Alice G Wade, a widow, on the 24th June 1918. His name was registered as Edward William Milward. The couple had two children, Alice Georgina (born on the 5th May 1919) and Agnes (born on the 10th October 1920) before Edward was discharged from the army in March 1922.