Milson Ellway, collier, born in Sheffield, oldest child of an English couple, William and Alice Ellway of Rhiw Syr Dafydd, enlisted in April 1918 at Newport and joined the 13th (Service) Battalion (2nd Rhondda) Welsh Regiment which in autumn 1918 was part of the 38th (Welsh) Division, Fourth Army.

On 18 September Fourth Army advanced, on an eleven mile front, in drenching rain over sodden ground and in the face of enemy resistance and captured the German positions on the ridges between Verguier and Épéhy, which are situated between the Canal du Nord and St. Quentin Canal. The Battle of Épéhy was a preliminary phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line.

Private M Ellway (58274) was killed in action 18 September 1918, aged 19, and was the last Oakdale man to fall on the battlefield. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, the memorial to those with no known grave who fell in autumn 1918 during the advance in Picardy and Artois.