Sergeant William Bell Craib

Service Number 2694140

Campaign:

World War 2

Died:

17.9.1944

1SG
Aged 30
Buried at Arezzo War Cemetery, Italy. V, B, 26
Son of John Brodie Craib and Susan Bell Craib, of Ayr; husband of Margaret Craib
On the 7th of October 1944 it was confirmed that Constable William Craib, of Airdrie Burgh Police, had been killed in action whilst serving as a Serjeant with the Scots Guards in Italy. His death took place on the 17th of September 1944.
CONSTABLE WILLIAM MCPHERSON BELL CRAIB
CITY OF GLASGOW POLICE – 1935 to 1938
AIRDRIE BURGH POLICE – 1935 to 1944
BACKGROUND
William was born on the 1st of June 1914 at 21 Woodside Road, Ayr, He was the son of Detective Inspector John Brodie Craib M.B.E., of the Ayr Burgh Police. His grandfather, also William Craib, had been a Sergeant with Kirkcaldy Burgh and Barrow-in-Furness Borough Police in Cumbria.
William was raised and educated in Ayr and on leaving school was employed in the town as a Tram Conductor. He wanted to broaden his horizons and on the 18th of January 1932 he enlisted in the Scots Guards at Ayr. On the 20th of January he attended the Guards Depot at Caterham in Surrey.
During his early service William received army education, receiving qualifications in Arithmetic, English, and History. In 1933 he achieved additional qualifications in Mathematics, English, and Map Reading. He became a qualified Signaler.
William served, as a Guardsman, with the 1st Battalion for three years, leaving on the 18th of January 1935 and being placed on the Army Reserve list. His record states –
“His military conduct was good. An honest, sober, and hard-working man, who is well educated and a qualified signaler.”
After leaving the army, William joined the City of Glasgow Police on February the 2nd 1935 and resided on West Graham Street in Glasgow. On August 4, 1936, he married Margaret King, a Tobacconist Assistant from the Killermont area, at Barony Church in Glasgow. Together, they had two daughters: Marlene, born in 1937, and Susan, born in 1938.
William resigned from the police force on October the 24th 1938, though the reasons for his departure and his subsequent occupation remain unclear. However, on June the 13th 1939, he resumed his policing career by joining the Airdrie Burgh Police. William and his wife then settled at ‘Elder Terrace’ on Hallcraig Street in Airdrie.
At the outbreak of World War 2, William was recalled to ‘The Colours’, re-joining the Scots Guards on the 1st of December 1939.
He began intensive re-training and on the 1st of March 1940 the 1st Battalion joined the 24th Infantry Brigade (Guards). The Brigade were later deployed to Norway following the German invasion on the 3rd of April.
William arrived at Narvik, with the British Expeditionary Force, on the 8th of April and was engaged in fierce fighting against the Germans, until he was placed on the ‘missing in action’ list in early May.
William and a colleague had been captured by a German patrol. They were disarmed and left under the care of two German soldiers, whilst the remainder of the patrol moved forward to prepare an ambush for an approaching group of British soldiers.
His colleague was an ex-middleweight boxer, and they hatched a plan to escape. At the appointed moment, the ex-boxer gave the signal and the two overpowered their guards, however their shouts alerted the remainder of the patrol who returned and fired at William and his friend.
They managed to escape the chasing Germans and over the following days they hiked over mountains and crossed rivers, with the assistance of local groups, successfully making their way to the neutral Swedish border. The two were interned by the Swedes from the 17th of May until the 5th of August 1940, when they were repatriated to the United Kingdom, arriving on the 7th of August.
On the 22nd of August 1940 he was promoted to Lance Corporal and shortly after, full Corporal. He was promoted to Lance Serjeant on the 15th of October 1940. In 1943 he received his final promotion to Serjeant.
He remained stationed in the United Kingdom until the 15th of July 1943, when the Brigade arrived in North Africa.
On the 22nd of January 1944, William, as part of the 24th Guards Brigade, landed at ‘Peter Beach’, 6 miles North of Anzio. He saw action at Anzio until March 1944. From then the Brigade was attached to the 6th Armoured Division (South Africa). William was also attached to the 1st Recce Regiment due to his skills as a map reader and signaller.
The Division was ordered to advance along Route 64 leading to Vertago and Bologna and to capture the twin peaks of Sole and Capara. The 24th Guards Brigade were first to encounter the German Gothic Line defences, their last major line of defence along the summits of the northern part of the Apennine Mountains. The Brigade met strong resistance from two battalions of the Lehr Brigade as well as two battalions of the 362nd Infantry Division, fighting from strongly fortified positions.
The Brigade took part in Operation Olive along the Gothic Line, involving fierce fighting. On the 15th of September 1944, William was severely wounded during one of the many encounters and was removed to a field hospital. He died of the wounds received on the 17th of September.
On the 18th of September he was buried at the Allied War Cemetery at Montecchio. His body was later exhumed and buried at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Arezzo on the 27th of March 1945. He rests at Plot 5 Row B Grave 26. His headstone reads –
‘NOT LOST, DEAR SON, BUT GONE BEFORE WE SHALL MEET AGAIN ON THE ETERNAL SHORE'
William was only 30 years of age, survived by his wife and two daughters aged 7 and 6 years. His youngest daughter’s birthday was on the date of his first burial.
Serjeant Craib’s name is placed on the Airdrie War Memorial, the memorial in Wellington Square, Ayr. May He Rest in Peace