CREBA, Charles William
(Service number 62927)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 4 November 1888 | Place of Birth | Waikaia |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 18 July 1917 | Age | 28 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Timaru Road, Waimate | ||
| Occupation | Blacksmith | ||
| Previous Military Experience | Volunteers - discharged | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Charles CREBA (father), Waimate | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | |||
| Date | 21 November 1917 | ||
| Transport | Maunganui | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Liverpool, Merseyside, England |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Infantry Regiment | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 25 July 1967 | Age | 78 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Timaru | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Waimate Lawn Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Charles William Creba was born on 4 November 1888 at Waikaia, the eldest son of Charles and Ellen (née Attewell) Creba. Charles arrived in New Zealand from England in 1875 and married Ellen in 1880 at Waimate. They then lived at Waikaia, Southland, until 1898 when the family moved to Waimate. Young Charles started at Waikaia School at the age of five. In 1900 C. Creba received a Standard V Boys prize at Waimate District High School. He and others of his brothers followed their father into blacksmithing.
William Charles Creba, farrier, Timaru Road, Waimate, whose name was drawn in the Ninth Ballot, which was officially published in a gazette of 4 July 1917, was called up. His brother Edward George Creba had been in the Eighth Ballot just a month before. Charles enlisted, as William Charles Creba, on 18 July 1917 at Timaru. A blacksmith for his father, of Church of England affiliation and single, he was residing at home on Timaru Road, Waimate. His nominated next-of-kin was his father – Charles Creba, Waimate. He had served with the Volunteers and been discharged. Private W. C. Creba embarked at Wellington for Liverpool, England, on 21 November 1917 by the “Maunganui”. The name of Private W. C. Creba (Waimate) appeared in an official hospital report published in the Timaru Herald of 16 February 1918, his not being a severe case. He was reported wounded between 28 September and 3 October 1918.
He returned to New Zealand per the “Ruahine” (Draft 205), leaving from London on 8 December 1918 and arriving on 21 January 1919. Private Creba was due at Waimate by the express on 22 January. He was discharged on 19 February 1919, being no longer physically fit for War Service on account of wounds received in action. He had suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. For his service in Western Europe he received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Charles William Creba spent the remainder of his life at the family residence on Timaru Road, it appears, two brothers and a sister living with him. He died on 25 July 1967 at Timaru, aged 78 years – “dearly beloved son of the late Charles and Ellen Creba, late of Timaru road, Waimate”. After a service at St Augustine’s Church, Waimate, he was buried in the Returned Servicemen’s section of Waimate Lawn Cemetery.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [18 October 2022]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [24 October 2022]; Waimate Lawn Cemetery Headstone transcription [24 October 2022]; Waimate Lawn Cemetery Headstone image (Find A Grave) [24 October 2022]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [25 October 2022]; Timaru Herald, 17 December 1900, 7 June 1917, 4 July 1917, 16 February 1918, 15 October 1918, Star, 11 January 1919, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 14 & 21 January 1919, Press, 26 July 1967 (Papers Past) [11, 24 & 25 October 2022]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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