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L/Cpl. Fred Breed
British Army 1st Battalion Scottish Rifles
from:Morley, West Yorkshire
(d.23th Oct 1918)
Up to entering the Army Fred Breed was employed as a willeyer at Grove “Bantam†Mills. As a boy and youth he attended the Salvation Army Sunday School, and received prizes for regular attendance, and up to the time of joining H.M. Forces he was a member of the Morley Baptist Brotherhood. Alan Snowden has an ink well and pen and under it has an engraving “Fred died 23-Oct-1918â€; this was one of his prizes.
Fred Breed joined up on the 6th April 1916, under the Conscription Act. His record suggests he enlisted in Pontefract and was originally assigned to the D.L.I number 26493; later he was transferred to the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) 1st Battalion. Fred was conscripted but his younger brother, Willie had enlisted months earlier. Judging by Fred’s religious beliefs he may have been opposed to war, hence why he was conscripted.
Fred was deployed to France November 1916. In April 1917 he was wounded with a gunshot wound in the arm, and was brought to England to one of the military hospitals in the South. After recovery he was re-deployed back to the Western European front. There is conflicting information on Fred’s rank and cause of death, ancestry.co.uk, CWGC, and medal records suggest his rank was a Private and he died from wounds. The Scottish National War Memorial suggests his rank was Lance Corporal. The latter would be consistent as there is a ‘Roll of Honour’ newspaper article from The Morley Observer November 1918 that lists Fred as a Lance Corporal. All other information in the article is consistent, such as address 6 Gillroyd Place, mothers name Mrs. Eliza Breed, regiment 1st Scottish Rifles, date of death 23 Oct 1918.
Here is the text from the newspaper article:- "Lance-Corpl. Fred Breed. News has been received of the death in France, from pneumonia on October 23rd last, of Lance-Corpl. Fred Breed of the Scottish Rifles, aged 26 (?), son of Mrs. Eliza Breed, of 6, Gillroyd Place, Morley. A Church of England Chaplain, Mr. (Rev) J. G. Thornton, has written to Mrs. Breed as follows: “26-10-18 Dear Madam, - I write to offer my deepest sympathy with you in the death of your son, Lance-Corpl. Breed, 1st Scottish Rifles. He was admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia. All possible efforts were made to save his life and make him comfortable, but I regret to say that he passed away on the 23rd inst. I buried his body in the military cemetery here. His grave is marked with a cross and will be cared for. I feel sorry for you in your great bereavement. If out of this great war comes a new peace and brotherhood between the nations then your son will not have laid down his life in vain. May God help you to see this and strengthen you to bear bravely the great sacrifice you have made for your country. Yours in sympathy.†Lance-Corpl. Breed joined up on the 6th April 1916, and went out to France two years ago this month. He was wounded in April, 1917 (a gunshot wound in the arm), and was brought to England to one of the military hospitals in the south. Up to entering the Army he was employed as a willeyer at Grove “Bantam†Mills. As a boy and youth he attended the Salvation Army Sunday School, and received prizes for regular attendance, and up to the time of joining H.M. Forces he was a member of the Morley Baptist Brotherhood."
Rev J. G. Thornton was part of the Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) No. 18 and it is likely Fred died in a field hospital and the CCS used the cemeteries. Fred is buried at the Commonwealth War Grave Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt, Picardie, France.
It is not known if Fred had any children, he may have been married to Mavis. There is a photo of him with Mavis taken prior to his deployment. The photo was taken in Queen Street, Morley. Fred’s great great grandnephew, Danyal, visits the Morley War Memorial once a month.
