Major Edward Crozier Creasy (1888–1936) was commander and senior liaison officer of the Inter Allied Detachment during the

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed with bot ...

.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''MAJOR E. C. CREASY'', 26 November 1936, p.11''

The Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...

'', ''British Pluck Foils Poles Who Had Orders to Shoot'',

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

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, Saturday, 28 May 1921, p.15 In May 1921, he was ambushed and, facing a Polish firing squad, said: "The

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

, though invisible, is round me. You will hit the British flag if you do. You dare not do it". The Polish execution officers put their weapons down and refused to carry out the execution order. According to Creasy's obituary in ''

'', his liaison work between the Allied Forces Headquarters and General von Hoefer, and the subsequent withdrawal of von Hoefer's troops against the Polish forces of

Wojciech Korfanty Wojciech Korfanty (; born Adalbert Korfanty; 20 April 1873 – 17 August 1939) was a Polish activist, journalist and politician, who served as a member of the German parliaments, the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag, and later, in the Polish ' ...

without further incident, was "due to the tact and personality of Major Creasy in carrying out the instructions of the Allied Command". He was awarded the Upper-Silesian Eagle for his bravery.

Life

Edward Crozier Creasy was born in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 1888, the son of Edward Creasy who was an officer in the Ceylon Police. His grandfather was Sir Edward Creasy, Chief Justice of

. Edward Crozier Creasy was educated in England at Bedford Modern School. Creasy began his military career in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

. He was a

subaltern Subaltern may refer to: *Subaltern (postcolonialism), colonial populations who are outside the hierarchy of power * Subaltern (military), a primarily British and Commonwealth military term for a junior officer * Subalternation, going from a univer ...

in the

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before joining the

Shanghai Municipal Police The Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP; ) was the police force of the Shanghai Municipal Council which governed the Shanghai International Settlement between 1854 and 1943, when the settlement was retroceded to Chinese control. Initially composed of ...

. At the outbreak of

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he returned to

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and gained a commission in the

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where he was made captain and later major, seeing service in France, Mesopotamia and the Army Occupation. He was severely wounded in the right shoulder in Mesopotamia and was taken to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

on the ''Medjidieh'' hospital ship which was subsequently criticised for the number of wounded on board. Creasy was tasked with service in South East Germany during the

Upper Silesia Plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed with bot ...

in Command of the Inter Allied Detachment and as Senior Liaison Officer. His liaison work was between the HQ of the Allied Forces and General von Hoefer who had raised an army to oppose the Polish forces of

. In May 1921, Creasy was ambushed and, facing a Polish firing squad, he said: "The Union Jack, though invisible, is round me. You will hit the British flag if you do. You dare not do it". The execution officers put down their weapons and refused to carry out the execution order. According to Creasy's obituary in ''

'', his liaison work between the Allied Forces Headquarters and General von Hoefer, and the subsequent withdrawal of von Hoefer's troops without further incident, was "due to the tact and personality of Major Creasy in carrying out the instructions of the Allied Command". He was awarded the Upper-Silesian Eagle for his service. After his work in Germany he was briefly reception officer at Wembley where he was responsible for a tour by the Prince of Wales. After his military work, Creasy went to Ceylon for eight years before returning to England. He died in 1936 and was survived by his widow and two young children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creasy, Edward Crozier 1888 births 1936 deaths British Army personnel of World War I People educated at Bedford Modern School People from British Ceylon