Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg

military leader, viceroy, Victoria Cross

Date of Birth: 21-Mar-1889

Place of Birth: Richmond, England, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 04-Jul-1963

Profession: politician, military officer, swimmer

Nationality: United Kingdom, New Zealand

Zodiac Sign: Aries


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About Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg

  • Lieutenant General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (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. 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 North African Campaign commanding the 2nd New Zealand Division, including during the Second 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 one of the first to enter Trieste, where he 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.

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