“A big read” A New Zealand General who was a VC holder.

“A big read”  A New Zealand General who was a VC holder.

Lord Freyberg, born in Richmond, Surrey to James Freyberg and his second wife, Julia (née Hamilton) was of partial Austrian-German descent. 

He 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 1910.

On 22 May 1911, Freyberg 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 1912. 

In May 1912  Freyberg went to San Francisco and Mexico around this time, and faught as captain under Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution. 

Upon hearing of the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914, he travelled to Britain via New York (where he won a swimming competition) and New York as a boxer(where he won a prizefight), to earn money to cross the United States and the Atlantic.

In Mexico,becoming involved in the civil war raging in that country.  But on hearing of the outbreak of the First World War in August he immediately left for England to volunteer.

 He secured a commission in the Royal Naval Division's Hood Brigade. By September 1914 he was on the Belgian front.

On the 24/04/1915 Freyberg swam ashore before the invasion lighting flares north of ANZAC cove giving the impression of a imment landing that in it lone some showed magnificent courage (which should absoleutly been awared a VC)

By 1918 he had added two bars to his DSO, won the Victoria Cross through ‘splendid personal gallantry’, and been appointed a Companion to the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG).

 He was mentioned in dispatches on several occasions and wounded nine times.

His Victoria Cross  

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 reinforced the next morning, he attacked and captured a strongly fortified village, taking 500 prisoners. 

Although wounded twice more, the second time severely, Freyberg refused to leave the line personally engaging the the enemy with the bayonet killing 6 until he had issued final instructions. 

The citation for the award, published in the London Gazette in December 1916, describes the events concluding with:  

During his time on the Western Front Freyberg continued to lead by example. His bold leadership had a cost: 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 the 173rd (3/1st London) Brigade, part of the 58th (2/1st London) 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 the 29th Division, performing with distinction during the German Spring Offensives 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 second bar to the 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 soldiers of the First World War.

The British Army had classified Freyberg as unfit for active service in 1937.

 After the outbreak of war in September 1939, he returned to its active list in December as a specially employed major-general. 

On being approached by the New Zealand government, Freyberg offered his services and was appointed commander of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force and of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

In the chaos of the retreat from the Battle of Greece in 1941, Churchill gave Freyberg command of the Allied forces during the Battle of Crete.

 Although instructed to prevent an assault from the air, he remained obsessed with the possibility of a naval landing and based his tactics on it, neglecting adequately to defend the airfield at Maleme, ignoring ULTRA intelligence messages, which showed that the assault was coming by air. 

However, many sources consider that the intelligence given to Freyberg was vague and inadequate, and did indicate the possibility of a naval landing; this compromised his ability to respond correctly to the invasion.

Promoted to lieutenant-general and knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Freyberg continued to command the 2nd New Zealand Division through the North African and Italian Campaigns of the Eighth Army. 

He had an excellent reputation as a divisional-level tactician.

 Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, described Freyberg as his "salamander" due to his love of fire and wanting to be always in the middle of the action.

 An exploding German shell wounded Freyberg at the Battle of Mersa Matruh in June 1942 but he soon returned to the battlefield. 

Freyberg disagreed strongly with his superior, General Claude Auchinleck, the Eighth Army commander and insisted that as a commander of a national contingent he had the right to refuse orders if those orders ran counter to the New Zealand national interest. 

Freyberg enjoyed a good relationship with General Bernard Montgomery, the Eighth Army commander from August 1942, who thought highly of the experienced New Zealand commander.

In the climactic Second Battle of El Alamein (October–November 1942) the 2nd New Zealand Division played a vital part in the breakthrough by the Eighth Army; for his leadership, Freyberg was immediately promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.

 During the pursuit of the Axis forces to Tunisia, where they surrendered in May 1943, he led the New Zealanders on a series of well-executed left hooks to outflank Axis defence lines.

 In April and May 1943 Freyberg briefly commanded X Corps.

Freyberg was injured in an aircraft accident in September 1944. After six weeks in hospital he returned to command the New Zealand Division in its final operations, the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, which involved a series of river crossings and an advance of 250 mi (400 km) in three weeks.

 By the time of the German surrender, the New Zealanders had reached Trieste, having liberated both Padua and Venice, where there was a brief standoff with Yugoslav partisans. 

This success earned him a third bar to his DSO in July 1945 and he was made a Commander of the United States Legion of Merit.

Freyberg had excelled in planning set-piece attacks, such as at Operation Supercharge at Alamein, Operation Supercharge II at Tebaga Gap, and in the storming of the Senio line in 1945. 

The two occasions that Freyberg commanded at Corps level—at Crete and Monte Cassino—were less successful. Throughout the war he showed a disdain for danger.

 He showed notable concern for the welfare of his soldiers, taking a common-sense attitude to discipline and ensuring the establishment of social facilities for his men.

 He had become a very popular commander with the New Zealand soldiers by the time he left his command in 1945.

Freyberg is closely associated with the controversial decision to bomb the ancient monastery at Monte Cassino in February 1944. Freyberg, commanding the troops which fought what later became known as the Second and Third Battles of Monte Cassino, became convinced the abbey, founded in 529 AD, was being used as a military stronghold.

 The analysis of one of Freyberg's divisional commanders, Major-General Francis Tuker of the 4th Indian Infantry Division, concluded in a memo to Freyberg that, regardless of whether the monastery was occupied by the Germans, it should be demolished to prevent its occupation. 

He pointed out that with 150 ft (46 m)-high walls made of masonry at least 10 ft (3.0 m) thick, it was impossible for engineers to break in and that bombing with "blockbuster" bombs would be the only solution since 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs would be "next to useless". 

General Sir Harold Alexander, commander of the 15th Army Group (later the Allied Armies in Italy), agreed to the bombing (which did not employ blockbuster bombs).

 After the monastery's destruction, the ruins were occupied by German forces, which held the position until 18 May. 

Following the war, the abbot of the monastery and other monks said that German troops had not occupied the inside of the abbey and it was not being used for military purposes.