A Dedication To a
British Hero,
SERGEANT WILLIAM GREGG V.C. D.C.M. M.M.
( 1890 - 1969 )
©
copyright Roger W. G. Capewell 1999------------------------------------------------------------
These pages are respectfully dedicated to
Lynne Gregg-Boot and to all of William Gregg's family and descendants.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This remarkable man was known to all as "Bill".
William Gregg was many things, but first and foremost he loved his family and his country.
The following is a small part of Bill's story.
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Bill was born in Heanor in Derbyshire on the 27th. of January 1890. Heanor is a small town close to the Nottinghamshire border. The main industries in the area where coal mining and textiles.
Bill parents where William and Harriet Gregg.
(To view a part of Sgt. Gregg's family tree please click here >
tree.htmWilliam snr. was born in Derby and Harriet was born in Langley, Derbys. William senior was a frame work knitter.
It is said that bill was born at "Tag Hill" which was (and still is) a local name for a steep hill on Derby Road, Heanor. Tag hill had a reputation as a "tough" area of the town.
By 1891 Bill's family where living in Gladstone Street, Heanor (not far from Tag Hill). Bill had three known siblings who were, Thomas (born 1885), Robert (born 1887) and Elizabeth (born 1889).
Bill attended
MUNDY STREET School at Heanor. On leaving school, Bill started work at Shipley coal mine and he was employed in the mining industry until he volunteered to the army in November 1914.(Years later at the age of 49, Bill volunteered to the army for World War Two, and he is known to have commented at that time "If a country is worth living in, it's worth fighting for").
I feel sure that these sentiments where exactly his reason for volunteering in 1914. Britains enemies were later to find out what this son of England "really meant" when he said fight !
Bill married Sarah Hardy (1892 - 1993) on the 25th of June 1910 at Heanor Parish Church. At the time of their marriage Bill gave his address as Fair View, and Sarah as Park Street.
Bill enlisted to the Rifle Brigade. (Now the Royal Green Jackets) in November 1914. After his basic training he was posted to the 2nd. Battalion in France. He was posted to the 13th. (S) Battalion in May of 1915 where he remained for the rest of the First World War.
Sergeant William Gregg
V.C. D.C.M. M.M. of the Rifle Brigade.Please click here to go to page 2 > bill2.htm
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