Selected Biographies

Creasey, Albert – Born: Cockfield, Suffolk on 9.1.1900.[1]  Parents: Frederick Creasey of Alpheton, Suffolk (Railway Plate Layer) and Emma Jane [née Cook].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Creasey [b1880], Walter Rudolph Creasey [b1885] and Frederick Creasey [b1893]; also, cousin of Henry William Creasey [b1898] and Leslie Creasey [b1898].  Home: Station Cottage, Bury Road, Cockfield, Suffolk (1901) to [1988].  Occupation: Postman [1918], Gardener (1921 to 1939).  Married: Elizabeth Mary Wicks née Willingham in1953.  Service Record: Albert was conscripted on 11.2.1918 as Pte. TR10/180389 (later Pte. G14417) with 1^st Battalion, The Buffs [East Kent Regiment].  He was posted to France on 3.8.1918 joining The Buffs 7^th [Service] Battalion as part of 55^th Brigade, 18^th (Eastern) Division, receiving a gunshot wound on 22.8.1918 during the Second Battle of Bapaume.  He was returned to England a week later and officially discharged in December 1919.[2]  Died: Cockfield, Suffolk on 30.12.1988.[3]

Creasey, Arthur – Born: Lavenham, Suffolk on 17.2.1880.[4]  Parents: Frederick Creasey of Alpheton, Suffolk (Railway Plate Layer) and Emma Jane [née Cook].  Family Connections: Brother to Walter Rudolph Creasey [b1885], Frederick Creasey [b1893] and Albert Creasey [b1900]; also, cousin of Henry William Creasey [b1898] and Leslie Creasey [b1898].  Home: High Street, Lavenham, Suffolk (1881 to 1891), Military Barracks, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk (1901), Station Cottage, Cockfield, Suffolk (1911), Crown Cottage, Stowupland, Suffolk (1921), 44 The Street, Gipping, Suffolk (1939), 8 Duke Street, Haughley, Suffolk [1964].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), General Labourer (1921 to 1939).  Married: Eliza Louisa Garnham in 1914.  Service Record: Arthur enlisted as Pte.6749 with 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment before 1901.  In April 1901 he joined the Royal Field Artillery as Dvr.15784, being posted to South Africa from May to November 1902, seeing action in the Second Anglo-Boer War as part of Royal Artillery Mounted Rifles.  He was deemed medically unfit for further service and discharged in December 1902.[5]  It is not known if he served during the First World Ward as no definitive military record has been found.  Died: Haughley, Suffolk on 34.3.1964.[6]

Creasey, Frederick – Born: Lavenham, Suffolk in 1893.  Parents: Frederick Creasey of Alpheton, Suffolk (Railway Plate Layer) and Emma Jane [née Cook].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Creasey [b1880], Walter Rudolph Creasey [b1885] and Albert Creasey [b1900]; also, cousin of Henry William Creasey [b1898] and Leslie Creasey [b1898].  Home: Station Cottage, Cockfield, Suffolk (1901 to 1911).  Occupation: Corn Miller’s Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Frederick enlisted on 6.5.1915 as Pte.3365 with 3/5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferring on 4.2.1917 as Spr.233930 [later Spr. WR/195091] to the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers and posted to Egypt.  While stationed in Cairo he was employed first as a light railway locomotive fireman, then promoted to engine driver with the rank of corporal.[7]

Creasey, Frederick ‘Tom’ Thomas – Born: Ipswich, Suffolk on 3.12.1908.[8]  Parents: Ralph Creasey (Butcher) and Mabel Rose [née Calver].  Home: 45 Waveney Road, Ipswich, Suffolk (1911), 23 Cumberland Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk (1921), Hall Street, Long Melford (1939), 25 St Bartholomews Lane, Sudbury, Suffolk [1968].  Occupation: Butcher (1939).  Married: Edith Florence Clark in 1924.  Service Record: Walter was a member of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard when it was formed in August 1942.  His name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[9].  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 19.12.1968 and buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Long Melford.[10]

Creasey, Henry William – Born: Beckenham, Kent on 3.1.1898.[11]  Parents: Charles Creasey of Long Melford (Police Constable) and Kate Sarah [née Tilt].  Family Connections: Brother to Leslie Creasey [b1898]; also, cousin of Arthur Creasey [b1880], Walter Rudolph Creasey [b1885], Frederick Creasey [b1893] and Albert Creasey [b1900].  Home: 1 Burnt Oak Lane, Bexley, Kent (1901), The Grove, Blackheath, London (1911 to 1921), 40 Grosvenor Road, Seaford, Sussex (1939) to [1990].  Occupation: Fitter [1915], Electrical Engineer for Elliott Brothers of Lewisham (1921), unemployed (1939).  Married: Evelyn E. White in 1932.  Service Record: Henry enlisted on 27.4.1915 as Dvr.L/20328 with 167 Brigade, Royal Field Artillery giving his age falsely as nineteen, implying a birth year of 1896.  He was posted to France from 12.12.1915, transferred in May 1916 to 33^rd Divisional Ammunition Column, seeing action during the Battles of the Somme, then in February 1917 to 5 Brigade, Royal Artillery Ammunition Column, receiving his discharge in March 1920.[12] Died: Seaford, Sussex on 15.8.1990.[13]

Creasey, Leslie – Born: Beckenham, Kent on 24.11.1898.[14]  Parents: Charles Creasey of Long Melford (Police Constable) and Kate Sarah [née Tilt].  Family Connections: Brother to Henry William Creasey [b1898]; also, cousin of Arthur Creasey [b1880], Walter Rudolph Creasey [b1885], Frederick Creasey [b1893] and Albert Creasey [b1900].  Home: 1 Burnt Oak Lane, Bexley, Kent (1901), The Grove, Blackheath, London (1911), Cawnpore, India (1921), 43 Waltham Avenue, Hillingdon, Middlesex (1939).  Occupation: Soldier [1916 to 1932], Postman (1939).  Married: Florence A. Bostock in 1924.  Service Record: Leslie was conscripted at Woolwich on 30.12.1916 as Dvr.1041968 with the Royal Artillery.  He was posted to France in 1918 and then to India in the following year.  He remained in India after the war and is recorded as serving with 117 ‘H’ Battery, Royal Field Artillery at Olphert Barracks in Cawnpore in 1921.  He appears to have stayed on as a career soldier until his discharge in 1932.[15]  Died: Hillingdon, Middlesex in 1974.

Creasey, Walter Rudolph – Born: Lavenham, Suffolk on 12.3.1885.[16]  Parents: Frederick Creasey of Alpheton, Suffolk (Railway Plate Layer) and Emma Jane [née Cook].  Family Connections: Brother to Arthur Creasey [b1880], Frederick Creasey [b1893] and Albert Creasey [b1900]; also, cousin of Henry William Creasey [b1898] and Leslie Creasey [b1898].  Home: High Street, Lavenham, Suffolk (1891), Station Cottage, Cockfield, Suffolk (1901 to 1921), Old Hall Green, Lavenham (1939).  Occupation: Postman (1911 to 1939).  Married: Lydia R. Butcher in 1921.  Service Record: Walter was conscripted on 2.12.1915 as Tpr.31160 with the Lothian and Border Horse Yeomanry, under the command of 4^th Reserve Regiment of Dragoons.  During his time with this unit, he was issued with other regimental numbers, namely: 38953 and 77404.  Trooper Creasey’s extant military documents suggest that he was stationed in England for the duration of the war.  He was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged in April 1919.[17]  Died: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1984.

Notes – [1] 1939 Register.  [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [3] National Probate Calendar.  [4] 1939 Register.  [5] WO 97: Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers Service Documents and Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949. [6] National Probate Calendar.  [7] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [8] 1939 Register.  [9] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.  [10] National Probate Calendar.  [11] 1939 Register.  [12] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [13] National Probate Calendar.  [14] 1939 Register.  [15] Royal Artillery attestations 1883-1942.  [16] 1939 Register.  [17] WWI, Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 [ref: 11/M/310870], [WO 329 – Silver War Badge ref: B235711], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].