Edward Milford

Who was Edward Milford?

Major General Edward James Milford CB, CBE, DSO, was an Australian Army officer who fought in the First and the Second World Wars.

Born in Melbourne, Milford graduated from the Royal Military College in 1915. Commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force, he served with the Field Artillery of the 2nd Division for most of the First World War. Remaining in the military for the interwar period, he held a number of postings in ordnance and artillery in Australia and England. During the early years of the Second World War, he served as master-general of the ordnance. He later commanded the 5th and 7th Divisions during the New Guinea and Borneo campaigns. He accepted the surrender of Japanese forces in Dutch Borneo on 8 September 1945. He retired from the army in 1948, due to an illness which was later found to be a misdiagnosis, and died in 1972 at the age of 77.