209593 Lt.Gen. Bernard "Tiny" Freyberg VC DSO Royal Navy Hood Battalion from:New Zealand Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO & Three Bars, was a British-born New Zealand Victoria Cross recipient and soldier who later served as the seventh Governor-General of New Zealand. A veteran of the Mexican Revolution, he became an officer in the British Army during the First World War. Freyberg took part in the beach landings during the Gallipoli Campaign and the youngest general in the British Army during the First World War, later serving on the Western Front where he was decorated with the Victoria Cross and three DSO's, making him one of the most highly decorated British Empire officers of the First World War. He liked to be in the thick of action-Churchill called him "the Salamander" due to his ability to pass through fire unharmed.
During the Second World War, he commanded the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Battle of Crete, the North African Campaign and the Italian Campaign. Freyberg was involved in defeat in the Battle of Greece, defeated again as the Allied commander in the Battle of Crete and performed successfully commanding the New Zealand division in the North African, including the Battle of El Alamein.
In Italy, he was defeated again at the Second Battle of Cassino as a corps commander, but later relieved Padua and Venice, and was first to enter Trieste, where he successfully confronted Josip Broz Tito's Partisans. By the end of the Second World War, Freyberg had spent ten and a half years fighting the Germans
Freyberg, born in Richmond, London, UK, 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 22 May 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, reportedly becoming a captain under Pancho Villa. Upon hearing of the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914, he travelled to England via Los Angeles (where he won a swimming competition to earn money to cross the United States) and New York (where he won a prizefight to earn money to cross the Atlantic)
In late 1914 Freyberg met Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, and persuaded him to grant him a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 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 the Distinguished Service Order. He received serious wounds on several occasions and left the peninsula when his division evacuated in January 1916.
In May 1916 Freyberg was transferred to the British Army as a captain in the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. However, he remained with the Hood Battalion as a seconded temporary major and went with them to France. During the final stages of the Battle of the Somme, when commanding a battalion as a temporary lieutenant-colonel, he so distinguished himself in the capture of Beaucourt village that he was awarded the Victoria Cross. On 13 November 1916 at Beaucourt-sur-Ancre, France, after Freyberg's battalion had carried the initial attack through the enemy's front system of trenches, he rallied and re-formed his own much disorganised men and some others, and 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 re-inforced the next morning he attacked and captured a strongly fortified village, taking 500 prisoners. Though wounded twice more, the second time severely, Freyberg refused to leave the line until he had issued final instructions. The citation for the award, published in the London Gazette in December 1916, describes the events concluding with:
"The personality, valour and utter contempt of danger on the part of this single Officer enabled the lodgment in the most advanced objective of the Corps to be permanently held, and on this point d'appui the line was eventually formed."
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 General (although he still had the permanent rank of only Captain) and took command of a brigade in the 58th Division in April 1917, which reportedly made him the youngest general officer in the British Army. He was awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George the same year. In September a shell exploding at his feet inflicted the worst of his many wounds. When he resumed duty in January 1918 he again commanded 88th Brigade in 29th Division, performing with distinction during the German offensive of March/April 1918. He won a bar to his DSO in September that year.
Freyberg ended the war by leading a cavalry squadron detached from 7th Dragoon Guards to seize a bridge at Lessines, which was achieved one minute before the armistice came into effect, thus earning him a third DSO. By the end of the war Freyberg had added the French Croix de Guerre to his name, as well receiving five Mentions in Despatches after his escapade at Saros. With his VC and three DSOs, he ranked as among the most highly decorated British Empire officers of the First World War.
Early in 1919 Freyberg was granted a regular commission in the Grenadier Guards and settled into peacetime soldiering, as well as attempts to swim the English Channel. From 1921 to 1925 he was a staff officer in the headquarters of the 44th Division.
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