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Remembrance
- The Yorkshire Regiment, First World War Lieutenant William Cread SHEAY Close window to return to main page |
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Lieutenant William Cread SHEAY
Photo : Imperial
War Museum collection
Lieutenant William Cread SHEAY.
2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 16 May 1915. Aged 35.
Buried in BETHUNE TOWN CEMETERY.
The following biographical information is from Robert Coulson's Biographies
of Officers of the Yorkshire Regiment;-
William Sheay was a Londoner born in the parish of St Luke in Middlesex.
He joined the Yorkshire Regiment as a private soldier in August of 1897 and
at the onset of war was Company Sergeant Major with the 2nd Battalion. He
landed with the battalion at Zeebrugge on October 6th 1914 moving to Bruges
and arriving in Ypres on October 14th. During the first battle of Ypres he
“Commanded his company with great skill when all the officers had been
killed or wounded”. As a result of this William Sheay received his commission
and rejoined the 2nd Battalion in April of 1915.
As machine gun officer with his old battalion 2nd Lt William Cread Sheay was
mortally wounded at 3-15am on May 16th 1915 during the Battle of Festubert.
His major wrote to Mrs Sheay,
“He was killed working his machine gun when a bullet ricocheted off
it and hit him in the face. He was taken back to the hospital in Bethune and
died later in the day.
I don’t think for a moment that he suffered any pain as I fancy he was
unconscious the whole time.
He was always so cheery about everything and only half an hour before he was
hit was laughing and telling me how he only wished he could get a good target
of Germans to fire at. I can say without exaggeration he was about the best
machine gun officer in the British army and it will be most difficult to replace
him.
His loss to the regiment is felt by all ranks”.
2nd Lt Sheay was buried the following day in Bethune Town Cemetery where his
grave still lies today. Sadly after his death it was learnt that he had received
the DCM.
William Sheay was the son of William Sheay Snr and husband of Annie Sheay
of Teddington in Middlesex.
2nd Lieutenant Sheay married Annie, daughter of William Smith. He left one
son, Arthur John, born in the parish of Teddington, Middlesex in June 1910.
(Shown as Lieutenant by the CWGC; 2nd Lieutenant in "Officers of the
Green Howards" by M L Ferrar.)
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