Lot Essay
Sergant-Major David Milne was born in London and enlisted in the Rifle Brigade in September 1848, aged 22 years. In his subsequent career of 21 years with the Colours, he served in the Cape of Good Hope and the Crimea for nearly two years and in Canada for five years. He is verified as being present at the Battles of the Alma and Inkermann, in addition to the operations before Sebastopol. Never tried by Court-Martial or entered in the Regimental Defaulters Book, Milne was discharged in September 1869 and awarded the M.S.M. Having been advanced to Sergeant-Major back in August 1860, he was latterly a Quarter-Master in the Middlesex Militia.