|
Date: |
|
Description: | signed
image: A three quarter length portrait of Freyberg in full uniform standing against a dark background.
Bernard Cyril Freyberg (1889-1963) first held a commission in the New Zealand Territorials in 1912 but in the following
year resigned it to become a ship's stoker. At the outbreak of the First World War, he met and persuaded the First Lord of the Admiralty,
Winston Churchill to give him a commission into the Hood Battalion of the newly formed Royal Naval Division.
He won the first of his four DSOs at Gallipoli, swimming from ship to ship lighting flares as part of the initial landings. Transferred to
the Western Front, he earned the Victoria Cross at the end of the Somme Offensive in November 1916 for refusing to leave the Hood Battalion
in spite of suffering no fewer than four wounds in the space of 24 hours. The following year, aged 27, he was made the youngest Brigadier-
General in the British Army. British born but brought up in New Zealand, Freyberg became Governor General there in 1946, following a long
military career.
This is a study in status and character with only Freyberg’s features and rank clearly detailed. His face emerges, determined, steadfast
and sure from a very uncertain background. The effect is to idealise and idolise the sitter.
Freyberg (1889-1963) won the first of his four DSOs at Gallipoli, swimming from ship to ship and lighting flares as
part of the initial landings. Transferred to the Western Front, he earned the Victoria Cross at the end of the Somme Offensive in November
1916 for refusing to leave the Hood Battalion in spite of suffering no fewer than four wounds in the space of 24 hours. The following
year, aged 27, he was made the youngest Brigadier-General in the British Army. This is a study in status and character with only
Freyberg’s features and rank clearly detailed.
Imperial War Museum, Naval Section Commission | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | Freyberg Royal Naval Division Western Front 1914-1918 Bernard Cyril 63rd Division Gallipoli 1915 British Army 1914-1918 British Army Military Personnel Royal Navy portrait / personification Uniforms 29th Division First World War medals / orders / decorations | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | McEvoy, Ambrose (ARA) | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
|
|