The Anzacs

Most decorated · 29 medals and honours, 8 for gallantry

Brigadier General Bernard Freyberg

Bernard Freyberg was raised in Wellington and went to England in 1914 to fight, serving first with the Royal Naval Division and then the British Army. In the First World War he won the Victoria Cross on the Somme, the Distinguished Service Order and two bars to it, and the French Croix de Guerre, and he was wounded nine times. He is on this list with five gallantry awards: the VC, the DSO with two bars, and the Croix de Guerre.

29medals and honours
8of them for gallantry

His medals and honours

Won for gallantry

Gallantry award

Distinguished Service Order

night of 24-25 April 1915 · Beach off the head of the Gulf of Xeros (Saros), near Bulair, Gallipoli · Lieutenant-Commander, RNVR (as gazetted), Hood Battalion, Royal Naval Division

Gazetted: Supplement 29180 to the London Gazette, 3 June 1915, p. 5331

On the night the main Allied landings went in at Gallipoli, the Royal Naval Division was sent north to make a feint off Bulair, at the neck of the peninsula, so the Turks would keep troops there instead of at the real beaches. Freyberg argued that one or two strong swimmers could do the job with far less risk than landing a platoon, and volunteered himself. Around 10 pm he was rowed towards the shore in a ship's boat, painted black and smeared with grease, and was put into the water further out than planned. He swam in, towing a small raft with flares, reached the beach about midnight, and lit the flares along the shore to look like a landing in progress. The Gazette says that, although alone, he also scouted the Turkish position before swimming back out. He spent more than two hours in the water in all before a boat found him. The Gazette citation is for 'conspicuous gallantry' on 25 April.

Sources disagree on small details. The Gazette text says he was 'over two hours in the water' and names the Gulf of Xeros; Online Cenotaph's version says 'several hours' and names the Saros landing; The Navy Museum account says he was put in about 2 miles out. Cenotaph's wording of the citation is a paraphrase, not the Gazette text.

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: Edinburgh Gazette 12826, 6 July 1915, p. 969 (citation text); London Gazette supplement 29180, p. 5331; Online Cenotaph; navymuseum.co.nz; victoriacrossonline.co.uk
FOR VALOUR
Gallantry award

Victoria Cross

13-14 November 1916 · Beaucourt-sur-Ancre, France (Battle of the Ancre, final stage of the Somme) · Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary); Captain, Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, Hood Battalion, Royal Naval Division (commanding)

Gazetted: Supplement 29866 to the London Gazette, 15 December 1916, p. 12307

Freyberg, aged 27, was commanding the Hood Battalion when the Royal Naval Division attacked the German lines along the Ancre on 13 November 1916. He led his men through the German front trench system by sheer personal example, but in mist and under heavy fire the battalion became badly scrambled after the first objective. He rallied and re-formed his own men and the men of other units who had got mixed up with them, then led them in a successful assault on the second objective, taking many prisoners. He was wounded twice in this advance but stayed in command. Unsupported and well forward, he held his ground through the rest of the day and all the following night under artillery and machine-gun fire. When reinforcements reached him next morning he organised and personally led the attack on the strongly fortified village of Beaucourt, and took the village and 500 prisoners. He was wounded a third time in that attack, and later in the afternoon wounded a fourth time, severely. Even then he would not leave the line until he had given final orders. The Gazette concluded that his presence and contempt for danger allowed the most forward position to be kept, and the line was then formed on it. He was evacuated to London, spent about three months recovering, and received the Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace in January 1918.

Four wounds in this action; nine in the war as a whole. The investiture date, 2 January 1918, is from Victoria Cross Online and the Cobbold Family History Trust page; I did not confirm it in the Gazette.

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette supplement 29866 p. 12307 (read); victoriacrossonline.co.uk; Wikipedia; Online Cenotaph
Bar: a second award

Bar to the Distinguished Service Order (first bar)

28 September 1918 and following days · Near Gheluvelt, Belgium · Brigadier General (temporary); Captain and brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, 88th Infantry Brigade, 29th Division (commanding)

Gazetted: Supplement 31158 to the London Gazette, 31 January 1919 (published 1 February 1919), p. 1602

Freyberg had been back in France since January 1918 and was commanding the 88th Brigade of the 29th Division. In the Flanders offensive at the end of September 1918, his brigade fought forward to and around Gheluvelt, the village east of Ypres. The Gazette credits the success of the brigade's operations on 28 September and the days after largely to his inspiring example. In short, a brigadier who made a point of going to wherever the fighting was hardest, and encouraged and directed his troops there in person. It was a bar rather than a new decoration because he already held the DSO from Gallipoli.

Online Cenotaph prints a longer quotation for this bar ('dash and leading power', 'capture of Gheluvelt'). That wording does not match the Gazette text I read, so I have used the Gazette. Wikipedia only says 'September 1918' and its bar dates are muddled (it also counts the 1945 bar).

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette supplement 31158 p. 1602 (read); London Gazette supplement 31219 p. 3224 (confirms 'gazetted 1st February, 1919'); Online Cenotaph
Bar: a second award

Second Bar to the Distinguished Service Order

11 November 1918 · Lessines, Belgium (bridges over the Dendre) · Brigadier General (temporary); Captain and brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, 88th Infantry Brigade, with a squadron of the 7th Dragoon Guards

Gazetted: Names in supplement 31219 to the London Gazette, 8 March 1919, p. 3224 (published 7-8 March); citation published in supplement 31583, 4 October 1919, p. 12214

On the morning of the Armistice, 11 November 1918, Freyberg went ahead of the infantry with cavalry (a squadron of the 7th Dragoon Guards) towards the town of Lessines on the River Dendre. The Gazette says that although he had only nine men with him at the time, he rushed the town. In doing so he took 100 German prisoners and stopped the Germans from blowing up the important road bridges over the Dendre. Wikipedia and Te Ara say the bridge was seized one minute before the Armistice took effect at 11 am. Victoria Cross Online gives 106 prisoners. The award was announced as a second bar on 8 March 1919, but the citation was only printed seven months later.

Prisoner count: 100 (Gazette) vs 106 (Victoria Cross Online). The 'one minute before the Armistice' detail is from Wikipedia and DNZB, not the Gazette. Wikipedia's gazette references for this bar point to the wrong issues; the 8 March 1919 supplement 31219 is the one confirmed (it notes 'DSO gazetted 3rd June 1915, 1st Bar gazetted 1st February 1919').

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette supplement 31219 p. 3224 and supplement 31583 p. 12214 (both read); Te Ara DNZB; Wikipedia; victoriacrossonline.co.uk
1914
Foreign gallantry award

Croix de Guerre (France)

For service in the campaign, 1914-1918 · France and Belgium · Captain and brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal West Surrey Regiment (commanding 88th Brigade)

Gazetted: Third supplement to the London Gazette, 19 June 1919, issue 31409, p. 7803 (also Edinburgh Gazette 13466, 23 June 1919, p. 2245)

The French Government awarded Freyberg the Croix de Guerre, and the British Gazette of 19 June 1919 lists him (as 'Freyburg') among officers who received decorations from the President of the French Republic for services in the campaign. The list gives no individual citation, so the specific action it recognised is not recorded in the sources I could read.

Victoria Cross Online says 'with Bronze Palm'. The Gazette list names him under the plain Croix de Guerre heading (the 'avec Palme' heading lists one other officer only), so I have not claimed a palm. The surname is misspelt 'Freyburg' in this Gazette. Counted as foreign gallantry.

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette 31409 p. 7803 and Edinburgh Gazette 13466 p. 2245 (read); victoriacrossonline.co.uk; Wikipedia
Foreign gallantry award

Greek War Cross 1940, First Class (gazetted as 'Greek Military Cross, 1st Class')

Service in Greece and Crete, April-May 1941; permission to wear 10 April 1942 · Greece and Crete · Major-General, 2nd New Zealand Division; Creforce

Gazetted: Fourth supplement to the London Gazette of 7 April 1942, issue 35519, 10 April 1942, p. 1595

In April 1942 the Gazette published unrestricted permission to wear decorations conferred by the King of the Hellenes on a list of senior Allied officers (Wavell, Maitland Wilson, Australian generals, and New Zealand's Hargest and Freyberg), 'in recognition of services in the cause of the Allies'. Freyberg appears under the 'Military Cross, 1st Class', as Major-General Sir Bernard Cyril Freyberg, V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. The Greek medals collector page names the same award as the War Cross 1940, First Class (a crowned bronze cross with crossed swords, red-blue-red ribbon, given for heroism in the field), and gives the Greece/Crete campaign as the context: he commanded the New Zealand Division in the unsuccessful defence of Greece in April 1941 and then Creforce on Crete. No individual citation was published.

Four names for what is almost certainly ONE award: Gazette 'Military Cross 1st Class'; Online Cenotaph 'Military Cross (Greece)'; Wikipedia 'War Cross (Greece) 1st class' (citing the same Gazette page); diggerhistory 'War Cross 1940 First Class'. Counted once. Treated as foreign gallantry, like the Croix de Guerre, although the Gazette words it as services in the Allied cause.

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette 35519, p. 1595; diggerhistory (archive copy); Wikipedia; Online Cenotaph
Foreign gallantry award

Gold Cross of Valour (Greece)

1944 (service with the Greek brigade in Italy, 1944); award date not found · Italy (Rimini, Bellaria and Rubicone battles, 1944) · Lieutenant-General, 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force

Gazetted: No London Gazette notice found

Greece's Cross of Valour was re-established in November 1940 as a decoration for outstanding bravery, awarded in Commander, Gold and Silver classes. The Greek medals page by diggerhistory records Freyberg's Gold Cross as given for helping a Greek brigade (it calls it the 3 Greek Mounted Brigade) with its training and during the battles of Rimini, Bellaria and Rubicone in northern Italy in 1944, when he commanded the New Zealand forces fighting alongside it. The Online Cenotaph and Wikipedia list 'Cross of Valour (Greece)' for him, and the Wikipedia citation is that same page. Victoria Cross Online's list of his medals does not mention it, and I found no Gazette notice or Greek citation, so the grade and date rest on the single collector source.

Source thin: Cenotaph and Wikipedia both ultimately lean on the same collector page; VCO omits it. Counted as ONE item and as foreign gallantry. If excluded, totalMedalsCount falls by one and gallantryCount by one.

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: diggerhistory Freyberg VC page (archive copy, 2008); Online Cenotaph; Wikipedia
Bar: a second award

Third Bar to the Distinguished Service Order

Italy, 1944-45 (final offensive to April-May 1945); gazetted 5 July 1945 · Northern Italy (river crossings, Padua, Venice, Trieste) · Lieutenant-General (temporary), 2nd New Zealand Division

Gazetted: Supplement 37161 to the London Gazette, dated 5 July 1945, p. 3490 (War Office notice, 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy')

This is the bar that made his the DSO with three bars, a rare tally. The Gazette gave only the general wording, 'gallant and distinguished services in Italy', and printed him as Lieutenant-General (temporary) Sir Bernard Cyril Freyberg, V.C., K.C.B., K.B.E., C.M.G., D.S.O., LL.D., New Zealand Military Forces. The Online Cenotaph repeats that phrase. The context is the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy: after six weeks in hospital following an aircraft accident in September 1944, he took the New Zealand Division back through a succession of river crossings and an advance of about 250 miles in three weeks, reaching Trieste having liberated Padua and Venice on the way. At Trieste there was a short tense standoff with Tito's Yugoslav Partisans. He was by then 56, and he had earned his first DSO at Gallipoli thirty years earlier.

Cenotaph (and VCO) date 5 July 1945; Wikipedia says 3 July 1945, p. 3490, because the supplement was printed on the 3rd; the page header reads 5 July 1945 and the notice is dated 5 July. The WWI file already has the DSO plus the first and second bars; this is the third.

Counted in his gallantry totalSource: London Gazette supplement 37161 p. 3490 (read); Online Cenotaph; Wikipedia

Every other medal and honour (22)

1914
1914 Star (with clasp)October 1914 · Antwerp, BelgiumAwarded for service in Belgium before 23 November 1914: Freyberg went to Antwerp in early October 1914 with the Hood Battalion, the Royal Naval Division's brief and unsuccessful attempt to help defend the city. The…
CMG
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)Birthday Honours, 3 June 1919 · Western FrontAn order for distinguished service, not a gallantry award. The Birthday Honours list of 3 June 1919 names him as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for his services in France and Flanders, and from…
GEORGIVS V BRITT OMN REX ET IND IMP
British War Medal 1914-201914-1918Issued to everyone who served overseas in the war; Freyberg held it for his 1914-1918 service.
Victory Medal 1914-19 with Mentioned in Despatches oak leaf1914-1918The Allied Victory Medal for service in a theatre of war; his carries the single bronze oak-leaf emblem for being mentioned in despatches, worn once however many mentions he earned.
GEORGIVS V SILVER JUBILEE 1935GR
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 19356 May 1935 (medal issued for the Silver Jubilee) · BritainCommemorative medal for the Silver Jubilee of King George V; listed in his group by Victoria Cross Online and shown on Wikipedia's ribbon bar for him.
CB
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)New Year Honours, announced 31 December 1935 (effective 1 January 1936) · BritainFreyberg was made a Companion of the Bath in the 1936 New Year Honours while on half-pay as a major-general, a year or so after his promotion to that rank and shortly before a heart condition forced his retirement…
CORONATION OF GEORGE VI 1937GR
King George VI Coronation Medal 193712 May 1937 · BritainCommemorative medal for the coronation of King George VI; he was still a serving general when it was issued. Listed by Victoria Cross Online, by the diggerhistory medals page and on Wikipedia's ribbon bar.
Royal Order of George I, Grand Commander with Swords (Greece)May 1941 (Greece/Crete campaign); permission to wear published 20 June 1944 · Greece and CreteGreece's order for those who served the nation, in its military division (crossed swords), second class. The Greek-medals page by diggerhistory gives the award to Freyberg as commander of the 2nd New Zealand…Ribbon drawn from the best description we found
KBE
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)New Year Honours 1942, announced 30 December 1941 (VCO: knighted 1 January 1942, invested 27 July 1942) · Middle East, as commander of the New Zealand forcesFreyberg's first knighthood came in the 1942 New Year Honours, appearing among the Knights Commander of the British Empire in the military division, listed as a major-general of the New Zealand Military Forces. It…
KCB
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)24 November 1942 (for the Second Battle of El Alamein) · Egypt (El Alamein)Within weeks of the Alamein breakthrough, the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood announced promotions and appointments to the Bath 'in recognition of the supreme gallantry and magnificent achievements of…
Legion of Merit, Degree of Commander (United States)1945 (conferred by the President of the United States); permission to wear gazetted 2 August 1945 · ItalyThe London Gazette of 2 August 1945 records the King's permission for Allied decorations to be worn, including the Legion of Merit, Degree of Commander, conferred by the US President on Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard…
St John
Knight of the Venerable Order of St John (Knight of Justice, KStJ)1 January 1946 · BritainThe Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, a royal order of chivalry for service to the Order's charitable and ambulance work, appointed Freyberg a Knight at the turn of 1946, with Lady Freyberg…
GCMG
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)29 January 1946 (Downing Street notice), published 1 February 1946 · BritainAppointed to be an Additional Member of the First Class, or Knight Grand Cross, of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George, at the same time as Field Marshal Alexander, who was Governor-General…
1939-43
1939-45 Star1939-45 (service qualification in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy)Awarded for operational service in the Second World War, which for him began with the Greek campaign in 1941.
AFRICA
Africa Star with 8th Army clasp1942-43 · North AfricaFor service in North Africa; the 8th Army clasp marks service with Eighth Army from Alamein (23 October 1942) to the end of the Tunisian campaign.
ITALY
Italy Star1943-45 · ItalyFor service in the Italian campaign, 1943-45, in which he commanded the New Zealand Division and briefly a corps.
THE DEFENCE MEDALGR
Defence Medal 1939-451939-45Listed with his group; the sources do not say which qualifying home or non-operational overseas service earned it (he commanded the Salisbury Plain area in autumn 1939).
THE WAR MEDAL 1939-1945GR
War Medal 1939-45 (with Mentioned in Despatches oak leaf)1939-45Awarded for 28 days of full-time service; worn with an oak leaf for his Second World War mentions.
NEW ZEALAND WAR SERVICENZ
New Zealand War Service Medal 1939-451939-45 (medal introduced 1946)New Zealand's own medal for war service between 1939 and 1945.
Baron Freyberg, of Wellington in New Zealand and of Munstead in the County of Surrey (peerage)King's Birthday Honours 1 June 1951; created 7 June 1951 · BritainHe was raised to the peerage while Governor-General, taking the title Baron Freyberg; his son Paul became the 2nd Baron. A peerage is a hereditary title, not a medal, order, decoration, badge of honour or emblem, so…
CORONATION OF ELIZABETH II 1953ER
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 19532 June 1953 · Windsor Castle (he was Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle from 1 March 1953)Commemorative medal for the 1953 coronation, issued to him as a peer and as Deputy Constable of Windsor Castle.
Mentioned in Despatches13 July 1916 to 5 July 1919, 1942-1945 · Gallipoli and the Western FrontFreyberg was named in commanders' despatches several times, which earned him the oak-leaf emblem worn on the ribbon of his Victory Medal. The first confirmed mention is in the list that followed General Sir Charles…

His story

  1. Wellington boy, dentist and territorial

    Born in Richmond, Surrey, Freyberg came to Wellington with his family in December 1891 and attended Wellington College. He won the national 100 yards swimming title in 1906 and 1910, qualified as a dentist in 1911, and was commissioned in the 6th (Hauraki) Regiment on 18 January 1912. He left New Zealand for San Francisco in March 1914. His story of fighting in Mexico is disputed: Ian McGibbon's research suggests he spent the time in California.

    Source: Victoria Cross Online; Te Ara DNZB; Wikipedia; Online Cenotaph

  2. Joins the Royal Naval Division

    Hearing of war he made his way to England, reaching Liverpool on 24 August. Told that officer places in the NZ force were full, he sought out Winston Churchill, who backed him. The London Gazette of 8 September 1914 shows him among the temporary Lieutenants RNVR, and he was posted to the Hood Battalion.

    Source: London Gazette issue 28894 p. 7092; Victoria Cross Online

  3. Antwerp

    The Hood Battalion went to Antwerp in the failed attempt to hold the city. Victoria Cross Online records that Freyberg was burnt on the hand by electrified barbed wire and spent time in hospital at Ostend. This service earned him the 1914 Star.

    Source: Te Ara DNZB; Victoria Cross Online; Online Cenotaph

  4. The swim off Bulair

    On the night of the Gallipoli landings he swam ashore alone to light flares and mislead the Turks, earning the DSO. He was wounded at Krithia on 8 May, returned in June to take temporary command of the Hood Battalion, and was wounded again in July before leaving the peninsula in early 1916.

    Source: London Gazette; Victoria Cross Online; Te Ara DNZB

  5. Transfer to the army and the Somme

    On 19 May 1916 he became a Captain in the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, still commanding the Hood Battalion as a temporary Lieutenant-Colonel, and went to France. On 13-14 November, in the Battle of the Ancre, he won the Victoria Cross at Beaucourt.

    Source: London Gazette issues 29588 p. 4974, 29626 p. 6042, 29667 p. 6987, 29866 p. 12307

  6. Youngest general

    Back in France in February 1917, he was made brevet Major (4 June) and, from 21 April, a temporary Brigadier General commanding the 173rd Brigade, 58th Division. A shell wounded him in five places on 19 September near St Julien, and he spent about three months in hospital in London.

    Source: London Gazette issues 30106 p. 5400, 30111 p. 5466; Victoria Cross Online; Wikipedia

  7. 88th Brigade

    He was made brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 January 1918 and received his VC from the King the next day. From mid-January he commanded the 88th Brigade, 29th Division, was wounded for the ninth time in Nieppe Forest on 3 June, won a bar to the DSO at Gheluvelt in late September, and on Armistice Day led cavalry into Lessines to win a second bar.

    Source: London Gazette 30563 p. 2974, 31158 p. 1602, 31583 p. 12214; Victoria Cross Online

  8. Honours and Army of Occupation

    He served in the Army of Occupation on the Rhine, gave up 88th Brigade in March, and received the CMG (3 June) and the Croix de Guerre (gazetted 19 June). He then took a regular commission in the Grenadier Guards.

    Source: Victoria Cross Online; Te Ara DNZB; London Gazette 31409

  9. Second war, governor-general and death

    He commanded the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Second World War, was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952, and became Baron Freyberg in 1951. He died on 4 July 1963 at Windsor when an old Gallipoli wound ruptured.

    Source: Online Cenotaph; Victoria Cross Online; Te Ara DNZB

Rank and insignia

The ranks he held, and the badge a soldier of that rank wore. These are simplified illustrations.

Second Lieutenant18 January 1912 · 6th (Hauraki) Regiment (NZ Territorial ForceShoulder strap: one pip
New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1914 to 1918 badge
LieutenantSeptember 1914 (gazetted 8 September 1914) · RNVR (temporary), Hood BattalionRank badge not drawn for this entry
New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1914 to 1918 badge
Lieutenant-Commander1915-1916 · then Commander, RNVR (temporaryNaval rank, worn as gold lace on the sleeve; not drawn
Captain19 May 1916 · Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, with temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel commanding Hood BattalionShoulder strap: crown and one pip
Brevet Major4 June 1917Shoulder strap: crown
Temporary Brigadier General21 April 1917 · 173rd BrigadeShoulder strap: crown and three pips
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel1 January 1918Shoulder strap: crown and one pip
Temporary Brigadier GeneralJanuary 1918 to March 1919 · 88th BrigadeShoulder strap: crown and three pips

Afterwards

Freyberg took a regular commission in the Grenadier Guards in early 1919, attended Staff College, married Barbara McLaren (nee Jekyll) in 1922, and twice tried to swim the English Channel (1925 and 1926). A heart condition forced him to retire in 1937. He returned in 1939 to command the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force through Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy, and was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. He was made Baron Freyberg in 1951 and was Deputy Constable of Windsor Castle from 1953 until his death.

He died on 4 July 1963 after collapsing at Windsor Castle; the old Gallipoli stomach wound ruptured. He is buried at St Martha-on-the-Hill, Chilworth, near Guildford. He is remembered as the officer who swam ashore at Gallipoli with flares and won the VC on the Somme. He was wounded nine times in the war, and Churchill nicknamed him 'the Salamander' for his ability to pass through fire. The location of his VC is not publicly recorded.

Later awards, not counted here: Third Bar to the DSO (gazetted July 1945); Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), 1942; Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), 1 January 1942 (Victoria Cross Online); Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG), 1946; Knight of Justice, Order of St John, 1 January 1946; Commander, Legion of Merit (USA), 1945; Greek Cross of Valour and Greek Military Cross; Grand Commander of the Order of George I with Swords (Greece); Mentioned in Despatches in the Second World War (oak leaf on the War Medal); WWII campaign medals: 1939-45 Star, Africa Star (8th Army clasp), Italy Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45, New Zealand War Service Medal.

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His sign

This is the Service Record sign as we would make it from his record: his rank, name, regiment, number and date of embarkation. The medals on the sign are worked out automatically, so the medals listed above are the ones to rely on.

The Service Record for Bernard Cyril Freyberg
The Service Record

Photograph

We haven’t hosted a photograph here

Rather than copy someone else’s image onto our own site, we’d rather send you to see it where it’s properly held: his full record at the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph.

Sources

What we could not confirm

MENTIONS IN DESPATCHES: sources conflict. Te Ara DNZB and Wikipedia's text say five in the First World War; Online Cenotaph says 'seven times' and Wikipedia's infobox says six (apparently whole-career totals including WWII); NZHistory says 'several'. I verified four First World War Gazette lists (13 Jul 1916, 11 Dec 1917, 20 Dec 1918, 5 Jul 1919) and could not find a fifth. Recommend 'mentioned in despatches several times (five, according to the DNZB)'. Not counted in the gallantry total either way.

CAMPAIGN STAR: the brief assumed a 1914-15 Star. Online Cenotaph and Victoria Cross Online both give him the 1914 Star with clasp (Antwerp, October 1914), which excludes the 1914-15 Star. I used the 1914 Star.

CMG DATE: DNZB and the Navy Museum say 1917; Gazette lists to December 1918 show 'V.C., D.S.O.' only; Wikipedia's 1919 Birthday Honours and Victoria Cross Online give 3 June 1919. I used 1919. Not counted as gallantry anyway.

CROIX DE GUERRE: Gazette (19 June 1919, p. 7803) lists him under plain Croix de Guerre, name misspelt 'Freyburg'; Victoria Cross Online says 'with Bronze Palm'. No palm claimed. No individual citation printed. Counted as foreign gallantry.

DSO CITATION: Online Cenotaph's wording of the DSO and first bar citations does not match the Gazette text I read; I followed the Gazette. Rank at DSO was Lieutenant-Commander RNVR per the Gazette.

BARS: the DSO 'Three Bars' in Wikipedia infobox and Cenotaph include the 1945 bar. WWI total is the DSO plus two bars. Wikipedia's gazette references for the bars are unreliable; the Gazette pages quoted here are confirmed.

SERVICE NUMBER: none for WWI. Online Cenotaph shows 4006 (belongs to his NZEF/WWII record).

OTHER MINOR CONFLICTS: wounded 'nine times' (Cenotaph, VCO) vs 'nine wounds in France' (Wikipedia); left Gallipoli January 1916 (DNZB, Wikipedia) vs 27 February 1916 (VCO); investiture 2 January 1918 (VCO, Cobbold). The Mexico story is disputed by McGibbon.

totalMedalsCount = 10: VC, DSO, two bars, Croix de Guerre, CMG, 1914 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, oak-leaf emblem. If bars are not counted as separate items use 8.

TOTAL = 29 (10 in freyberg.json + 19 here). Alternatives: 27 if the lower-grade CB and CMG are treated as subsumed by the KCB and GCMG; 28 without the 1935 Jubilee Medal; 28 without the Greek Gold Cross of Valour; 30 if the barony is counted, or if the second MiD oak leaf (War Medal) is counted separately.

ONE MiD ITEM: the brief says a Mention in Despatches counts once for the emblem. The oak leaf on the Victory Medal is item 3 already. Second World War mentions found in the Gazette: 11 Dec 1942 (35821 p. 5446), 24 Jun 1943 (36065 p. 2866) and 29 Nov 1945 (37368 p. 5835). With the four WWI lists in freyberg.json that is seven in all, which matches the Online Cenotaph's 'seven times'; Wikipedia's infobox says six; DNZB says five (WWI only).

ORDER GRADES: CB (1936), KCB (1942), CMG (1919), GCMG (1946), KBE (1942) are counted as separate items because each was a distinct appointment or promotion he demonstrably received. The Online Cenotaph lists only KCB, KBE and GCMG.

GREEK AWARDS: (a) Gazette 35519 (10 Apr 1942) shows him with 'Military Cross 1st Class'; Cenotaph, Wikipedia ('War Cross') and diggerhistory ('War Cross 1940 First Class') are treated as the same award, counted once. (b) Gold Cross of Valour: Cenotaph and Wikipedia list 'Cross of Valour (Greece)'; the only detail (for work with a Greek brigade in 1944 at Rimini, Bellaria, Rubicone) is on the diggerhistory page; Victoria Cross Online's group list omits it and no Gazette notice was found. (c) Order of George I with Swords, Grand Commander: Gazette 36569 (20 June 1944) prints 'Order of the Phoenix, Grand Commander' which the collector says is an error. Counted once.

WIKIPEDIA CONFLICTS: its 'Honours and awards' list gives wrong dates: KBE '1 January 1934', KCB '1940', CB '3 June 1919'. The Gazette pages read give KBE 1942, KCB 24 Nov 1942, CB 1936, GCMG 1 Feb 1946, third bar 5 July 1945. Wikipedia lists GCMG as 30 May 1946 (Gazette 37597); I read the 1 February 1946 notice.

KBE GAZETTE: I could not retrieve the 1 January 1942 New Year Honours page itself from the Gazette site (the supplement 35399 pages did not download). The honour is attested by Wikipedia's transcription of the list, by Victoria Cross Online (knighted 1 January 1942, invested 27 July 1942), and by the 10 April 1942 Gazette in which he is already styled K.B.E.

COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS: no roll seen. 1953 Coronation (Cenotaph, VCO, diggerhistory, Wikipedia); 1937 Coronation (VCO, diggerhistory, Wikipedia); 1935 Jubilee (VCO and Wikipedia ribbon bar only; not on Cenotaph or diggerhistory).

CROIX DE GUERRE PALM: Victoria Cross Online says 'with Bronze Palm'; the 1919 Gazette (freyberg.json) lists plain Croix de Guerre. Palm not claimed and not counted; if confirmed it would arguably add one.

HONORARY DEGREES: LL.D. appears after his name in 1935-45 Gazettes and DCL in 1951; academic degrees are not medals or honours under the rule and are not counted.

PEERAGE: Baron Freyberg (1951) shown in awardsExtra with inTotal false.

'counted' keeps the brief's meaning (gallantry awards only); the extra field 'inTotal' marks items included in totalMedalsCount.

Concept, design and execution by Unlimited Potential