- Samuel Frickleton
. Front row, Sg. J.D. Hinton, Lt.
K. Elliott , Cpt.C.H. Upham , Sg.A.C. Hulme , Cpt.S. Frickleton , Lt.J.G. Grant .]Samuel Frickleton VC (
1 April 1891 -6 August 1971 ) was aNew Zealand recipient of theVictoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.He was 26 years old, and a
lance-corporal in the 3rd Battalion,New Zealand Rifle Brigade ,New Zealand Expeditionary Force during theFirst World War . He enlisted in 1915, and was discharged as medically unfit with tuberculosis. He re-enlisted in 1916. The following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.On
7 June 1917 atMessines ,Belgium , Lance-Corporal Frickleton, although slightly wounded, dashed forward at the head of his section, pushed into our barrage and personally destroyed with bombs an enemy machine-gun and crew which was causing heavy casualties. He then attacked a second gun killing all the crew of 12. By the destruction of these two guns he undoubtedly saved his own and other units from very severe casualties. During the consolidation of this position he received a second severe wound. In WWI he was promoted to sergeant, then second lieutenant, and when he joined the Territorial Force in 1934 he was madecaptain .Born in Slamannan, Stirlingshire,
Scotland , and later a West Coast (coal) miner at the Blackball Mine atBlackball, New Zealand , he is also considered Scottish. He died in Wellington, New Zealand, and his grave is in Taita Serviceman's Cemetery, Naenae, New Zealand: Plot 1188, with headstone.His Victoria Cross was displayed at the
QEII Army Memorial Museum , Waiouru, New Zealand.On Sunday2 December 2007 it was one of nine Victoria Crosses that were among a hundred medals stolen from the museum. [cite web|author=Derek Cheng|title=Army medal theft 'insult' to our nation's heritage |publisher=nzherald|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10479634|date=December 2007|accessdate=2007-12-02] On16 February 2008 New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered [http://police.govt.nz/news/release/3701.html Stolen War Medals Recovered] ]References
*
Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)External links
* [http://www.ozemail.com.au/~vcweb/winners/nz_winners/frickleton.htm Frickleton S.F.]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/7572/nzvcross.txt New Zealand Troops who have won the Victoria Cross] "(brief biography details)"
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