George Milford-Cottam. 4th May 1918 – 19th May 2009.
Mr Milford-Cottam, who lived at Barn Acre in Stream Road, was brought up in West London and worked in insurance. He belonged to a yeomanry regiment which was mobilised when war started and sent to the Middle East as part of the horse mounted 1st Cavalry Division. Soon afterwards he volunteered to serve with the newly formed Long Range Desert Group operating hundred of miles behind enemy lines in the Desert. By 1944 his regiment formed part of an armoured brigade which landed in Normandy on D Day. Within a few weeks he was shot through the neck when looking out of the turret of his tank and was invalided back to the UK.
As a debonair bachelor in London after the war he became well known in the world of opera and ballet, and eventually became Chairman of the London Ballet Circle. He also appeared as a sophisticated man about town in advertisements for cigars published in colour supplements.
He married fairly late in life, though he and his wife, Diana, lived to enjoy their silver wedding anniversary. Together they helped to form the Goring and District Fine Arts Society which now numbers 460 members. George served as the first chairman.
On moving to Upton they joined St Mary’s Church and served on the Parochial Church Council. He bequeathed his body for medical research and so the usual funeral service was replaced with a service of thanksgiving for his life.