Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg
Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO & Three Bars (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th governor-general of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952.
Lieutenant-General The Right Honourable The Lord Freyberg VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO & Three Bars | |
|---|---|
Bernard Freyberg in 1952 | |
| 7th Governor-General of New Zealand | |
| In office 17 June 1946 – 15 August 1952 | |
| Monarchs | George VI Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Peter Fraser Sidney Holland |
| Preceded by | Sir Cyril Newall |
| Succeeded by | Sir Willoughby Norrie |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 19 October 1951 – 4 July 1963 | |
| Preceded by | Peerage created |
| Succeeded by | The 2nd Lord Freyberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 March 1889 Richmond, London, England |
| Died | 4 July 1963 (aged 74) Windsor, Berkshire, England |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Nickname | "Tiny" |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom (1914–37) New Zealand (1939–45) |
| Branch/service | Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve British Army New Zealand Military Forces |
| Years of service | 1914–1937 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-general |
| Unit | Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) Grenadier Guards Manchester Regiment |
| Commands | X Corps (1943) 2nd New Zealand Division (1939–45) 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (1939–45) Salisbury Plain Area (1939) 1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment (1929–31) 88th Brigade (1917–18) 173rd (3/1st London) Brigade (1917) |
| Battles/wars | First World War Second World War
|
| Awards | Victoria Cross Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order & Three Bars Mentioned in Despatches (6) Knight of the Venerable Order of St. John Croix de Guerre (France) Legion of Merit (United States) Grand Commander with Swords of the Order of George I (Greece) Cross of Valour (Greece) War Cross (Greece) |
Freyberg served as an officer in the British Army during the First World War. He took part in the beach landings during the Gallipoli campaign and was 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 Distinguished Service Orders, making him one of the most highly decorated British Empire soldiers of the First World War. He liked to be in the thick of the action: Winston 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 the Allied defeat in the Battle of Greece, defeated again as the Allied commander in the Battle of Crete and performed successfully in the fighting in North Africa, commanding the 2nd New Zealand Division, including during the Second Battle of El Alamein and in the subsequent Tunisian campaign.
In Italy, he was defeated again at the Second Battle of Cassino as a corps commander but later relieved Padua and Venice and was one of the first to enter Trieste, where he confronted Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslav Partisans. By the end of the Second World War, Freyberg had spent ten and a half years fighting the Germans.