Sergeant William McCreath

William McCreth, husband of M McCreath of Tottenham, Middlesex, enlisted into the 7th (Stoke Newington) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment.

Private McCreath volunteered for airborne forces and in November 1941, he was posted to the 2nd Parachute Battalion (2nd Para Bn). After completing the selection phase at Hardwick Hall, he went on to parachute course No 4 at RAF Ringway, 17 to 23 December 1941 and he gained his wings having completed 2 balloon and 5 aircraft descents.

Upon completion of his parachute course he was posted to Support Company of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, then stationed at Bulford.

In November 1942 he was posted to North Africa on Operation Torch, he then went to Sicily and Italy before returning to the UK in November 1943.

Sergeant McCreath jumped into Arnhem on 17 September 1944 as Section Commander of Mortars Platoon, Support Company, 2nd Para Bn. He was wounded and died two days later in the garden of a house near the bridge.

Sgt McCreath was 24 years old when he died, he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Memorial of the Missing at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, near Nijmegen.