Joseph "Joe" Milner

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, QFSM (born, October 1922 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, UK – died, 13 January 2007 in Caston,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, UK) was a senior officer in the British fire service. Born in Manchester in 1922, on leaving the army in 1946, he began his career with the Fire Brigades of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, and the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

. He joined the

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Fire Services in 1951. He was Director of the

Hong Kong Fire Services The Hong Kong Fire Services Department is an emergency service responsible for firefighting and rescue on land and sea. It also provides an emergency ambulance service for the sick and the injured and gives fire protection advice to the pub ...

from 1961 to 1970 and Chief Fire Officer, of the London Fire Brigade from 1970 to 1976. He was the Chief Fire Officer, present during the

Moorgate tube crash The Moorgate tube crash occurred on 28 February 1975 at 8:46 am on the London Underground's Northern City Line; 43 people died and 74 were injured after a train failed to stop at the line's southern terminus, Moorgate station, and crashed ...

aftermath, in 1975. He famously quoted 'my thousand selfless heroes', in dedication to the literal 1000 firefighters who spent 5 days rescuing survivors.

Family

1st wife Bella Grice-Flinton, (born,

Staxton Staxton is a village in North Yorkshire, England, part of the civil parish of Willerby, and situated approximately 8.2 miles from Scarborough town centre. Until 1974 the village lay in the historic county boundaries of the East Riding of York ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, died 1976) – had 2 children (Patricia and Frederick (dec'd)), 2nd wife Anne Milner – married 1976 until his death in 2007- no children, Joyce Woodhouse – sister, William Milner – brother, Henry Milner, QPM-awarded British policeman, was his brother.

Burma Campaign

Milner fought in the Burma campaign as a

Chindit The Chindits, officially as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British and Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The British Army Brigadier Orde Wingate form ...

. There is a story that has been passed down through the family of Milner, that when the Japanese surrounded his camp, and his men nervously asked him what they should do, he gave the orders to set up a banquet in order to show the Japanese that they did not fear them. Joseph Milner wrote a fictional, book based on his experiences called "To Blazes With Glory: A Chindit's war", about a soldier called Badger who fights in the campaign.

References

Hong Kong Government Records Office. Archival copy of: Information Services Department, Publishing Division, Editorial Section. Feature: A "passion" for fire prevention – Hong Kong man to head London Fire Brigade. by Adam Lynford.Hong Kong Fire Services (photo)

1922 births 2007 deaths London Fire Brigade personnel Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Hong Kong civil servants People from Manchester People from Breckland District Recipients of the Queen's Fire Service Medal Military personnel from Manchester British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers {{HongKong-gov-bio-stub