William Gregg

He rallied his men and stormed the guns through deadly fire.

William Gregg (1890–1969) was a British Army sergeant from Heanor, Derbyshire, whose Victoria Cross was won during the fighting at Bucquoy, France, on 8 May 1918. Serving with the 13th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, he took command after the company officers became casualties and repeatedly led assaults against German machine-gun positions. His Victoria Cross citation describes not a single charge but a series of attacks in which he rallied men, captured weapons and held the position until ordered to withdraw.

Gregg was born in Heanor on 27 January 1890. Before the war he worked as a coal miner. He enlisted in the Rifle Brigade in November 1914 and served on the Western Front from 1915. His conduct had already brought him the Military Medal in 1917 and the Distinguished Conduct Medal later that year. The Victoria Cross made him one of a small number of British soldiers to receive all three of these gallantry awards.

At Bucquoy, after his company’s officers had been hit, Gregg assumed command and led men against two enemy posts. They overcame the gun crews, took prisoners and captured a machine gun. When a counter-attack forced them back, Gregg regrouped with the support of reinforcements and led a further charge, bombing a hostile machine-gun position himself and capturing its gun. A second German counter-attack again pushed the party back; Gregg then led another successful assault and maintained the ground until withdrawal was ordered. The London Gazette’s Victoria Cross citation emphasizes his repeated leadership as the attack shifted back and forth under fire.

Gregg received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Third Army headquarters in France on 9 August 1918. He later became a company sergeant-major and left the Army in 1919. When the Second World War began, he served with the Sherwood Foresters in a home-defence role before leaving on reaching the age limit. He returned to civilian life in Heanor, where he died in 1969. The town later named its swimming baths and leisure centre in his honour; his Victoria Cross is held by the Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum in Winchester.

Citation summary: For conspicuous bravery and leadership at Bucquoy on 8 May 1918, Gregg took command after the company officers were wounded, led attacks that captured enemy machine-gun posts, rallied his men after counter-attacks, and held the position until ordered to withdraw.

Sources: The London Gazette, 28 June 1918, Victoria Cross citation for Sergeant William Gregg; Gerald Gliddon, Spring Offensive 1918; Heanor and Loscoe Town Council, “Century of William Gregg’s VC award”; Victoria Cross Online, “William Gregg VC DCM MM.”

[Biographical and award record](https://victoriacrossonline.co.uk/william-gregg-vc-dcm-mm/)