5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
As set out below, there are a number of curious aspects relating to Private Creed’s service in the Great War.
William Charles Creed was born in Cheltenham on 3 June 1873 and according to baptismal records he was baptised at Badgeworth on 26 July 1874. His parents were William (1841-?) and Elizabeth (1850-1899). They are believed to have had ten children.
On 1 July 1899 he married Ellen Amelia Turner (1878-1949) at Cheltenham. The couple appears to have had eight children, the first born in 1900 and the last in 1918.
At the time of the 1911 census the family (then comprising parents and five children) were living at 63 Stanhope Street, Cheltenham. William’s occupation was shown as a market gardener on the census form.
A small part of an Army Pension Record has survived for William and this contains some interesting and surprising information. On 11 March 1915, at the age of 42 years and 10 months, William attested for military service for the duration of the war. He gave his address as 63 Stanhope Street, Cheltenham and his occupation as a labourer. He also noted 16 years previous military service with the Grenadier Guards and the fact that he was discharged as ‘time expired’. Unfortunately, there is no record of the dates between which he served or any service number. However, there are a couple of clues. The first is that William’s name is missing from the 1901 census, whilst his wife, Ellen, is living in Cheltenham with their daughter Maud Pretoria, born in 1900. It is almost certain that at this time William was serving in South Africa. The second is that the Gloucestershire Echo of 27 September 1902 carried a report of a civic reception for Cheltonian soldiers who had returned from South Africa. The names of the soldiers were listed and a Private William Creed, 1st Grenadier Guards, is amongst them.
Having attested for military service on 11 March 1915, William was posted as a Private, number 13680, into the Royal Fusiliers. His period of service lasted a mere 19 days as on 29 March 1915 he was discharged as per paragraph 392 (iii) (e) of King’s Regulations. This meant that he was considered ‘unlikely to become an efficient soldier’: probably down to his lack of fitness, being aged 41.
So how did he come to join the Gloucestershire Regiment, as stated in the CWGC Register? Did he make another application to join shortly after his discharge from the Royal Fusiliers? It would appear that this is so, as the number he was given (4090) falls within the range allocated in early April 1915. The 5th Glosters was a Territorial Force (TF) unit and in 1917 all men serving with TF units were re-allocated six digit numbers: William does not appear to have been allocated a new number and so it must be assumed that before the re-allocation he had transferred to 648th Company, Agricultural Company, Labour Corps. Many men in the upper age bracket were transferred to the Labour Corps and those assigned to Agricultural Companies would have gone onto the land to assist farmers with food production and harvesting etc.
The indications are that William was serving in the Army when he died, on 7 December 1918, age 46. The Register of Soldiers’ Effects (retained at the National Army Museum) states that he died at the 2nd Southern General Hospital, Bristol. However, the Births, Marriages and Deaths Register states that death occurred in Cheltenham. The 2nd Southern General Hospital controlled a number of satellite hospitals and it is likely that this one was located in Cheltenham. A recently released Pension Record Card states that he died from ‘cancer contracted on active service’.
Private William Charles Creed was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery on 12 December 1918, where a standard CWGC headstone now marks his grave. This bears the badge of the Gloucestershire Regiment. He is named on the Cheltenham War Memorial.
His widow was granted a pension of 33 shillings and 9 pence per week, from 4 July 1919. This was in respect of herself and dependent children. At the time the CWGC Register was compiled she lived at 15 Queen Street, Cheltenham. She never re-married and died in Cheltenham in 1949, aged 71.
Researched by Graham Adams 14 May 2020