Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg

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The Right Honourable Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO (March 21, 1889 — July 4,1963) served as an officer first in the British Army and then in the New Zealand Army during World War I and World War II.

Contents 1 Early life 2 World War I 3 World War II 4 Post war 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Freyberg, born in Richmond upon Thames in England, moved to New Zealand with his parents at the age of two. He attended Wellington College from 1897 to 1904.

A strong swimmer, he won the New Zealand 100-yards championship in 1906 and in 1910.

On May 22 1911, he gained formal registration as a dentist. He worked as an assistant dentist in Morrinsville and later practised in Hamilton and in Levin. While in Morrinsville he was asked to take up a subalternship in the local Territorial Army unit, but he did not succeed in gaining the King's commission.

Freyberg left New Zealand in March 1914. Records exist of him in San Francisco and in Mexico, where he may have taken part in the civil war then raging in that country. Upon hearing of the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914, he travelled to England.

World War I

In late 1914, Freyberg met and persuaded the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, to grant him a commission in the Hood Battalion of the newly-constituted Royal Naval Division.

In 1915 Freyberg became involved in the Dardanelles campaign. During the initial landings by Allied troops following the unsuccessful attempt to force the straits by sea, Freyberg swam ashore in the Gulf of Saros. Once ashore, he began lighting flares so as to distract the defending Turkish forces from the real landings taking place at Gallipoli. Despite coming under heavy Turkish fire, he returned safely from this outing, and for his action he received his first DSO. He received serious wounds on several occasions and left the peninsula when his division evacuated in January 1916.

Freyberg went to France in May 1916. He received the Victoria Cross during World War I at the Battle of the Somme.

On November 13, 1916 at Beaucourt-sur-Ancre, France, after carrying the initial attack through the enemy's front system of trenches, Freyberg's battalion was much disorganised, but after rallying and re-forming his own men and some others, he led them on a successful assault of the second objective, during which he suffered two wounds, but remained in command and held his ground throughout the day and the following night. When reinforced the next morning he attacked and captured a strongly fortified village, taking 500 prisoners. He was wounded twice more, the second time severely, but he refused to leave the line until he had issued final instructions. His citation described the end result of these actions, stating that "[Freyberg] enabled the lodgement of the corps to be permanently held, and on this point the line was eventually formed" for subsequent offensives.

During his time on the Western Front Freyberg continued to lead by example. His leadership had a cost however: Freyberg received nine wounds during his service in France, and men who served with him later in his career said hardly a part of his body did not have scars.

Freyberg gained promotion to the rank of Temporary Brigadier and took command of a brigade in the 58th Division in April 1917, reportedly making him the youngest general in the British Army. By the end of the war Freyberg had added a further two DSOs and the French Croix Militaire de Guerre to his name, as well as being mentioned in despatches five times more times after his escapade at Saros.

World War II

Freyberg became classified as unfit for active service with the British Army in 1937. However following the outbreak of war in September 1939 he returned to the British Army active list. Following an approach from the New Zealand government, Freyberg offered his services and subsequently gained appointment as commander of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force and of the New Zealand 2nd Division.

In the chaos of the retreat from the Greek mainland campaign of 1941, London gave Freyberg command of the Allied forces during the Battle of Crete. Controversy surrounds his use of ULTRA intelligence messages during this battle.

Freyberg continued to command the New Zealand 2nd Division through the North African and Italian campaigns of the British Eighth Army. He had become a popular commander with the New Zealand soldiers by the time he left his command (with the rank of lieutenant general) in 1945.

Post war

Following his retirement from the Army, Freyberg served as Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 until 1952. In this post he played a very active role, visiting all parts of New Zealand and its dependencies.

The Crown raised Freyberg to the peerage as Baron Freyberg of Wellington in New Zealand and of Munstead in the County of Surrey in 1951.

After his term as New Zealand Governor-General had finished Freyberg returned to England where he sat frequently in the House of Lords. On March 1, 1953 he became the Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle; he took up residence in the Norman Gateway the following year.

Freyberg died at Windsor on July 4, 1963 following the rupture of one of his war wounds, and was buried in the churchyard of St Martha on the Hill in Guildford.

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References

• Freyberg : Churchill's Salamander (L Barber and J Tonkin-Covell, 1989)
• Bernard Freyberg, VC : Soldier of Two Nations (Paul Freyberg, 1991)
• VCs of the First World War - The Somme (Gerald Gliddon, 1994)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)

External links

• Official biography at Government House, Wellington. Accessed 14 Feb 2006.
• First World War.com - Who's Who - Bernard Freyberg. Accessed 14 Feb 2006.
• "Freyberg, Bernard Cyril" at the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Accessed 14 Feb 2006.
• New Zealand Troops who have won the Victoria Cross. Accessed 14 Feb 2006.
• Location of grave and VC medal (Surrey). Accessed 14 Feb 2006.

Some data migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference with permission and merged.

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