Frederick Birks

Frederick Birks
Second Lieutenant Fredericks Birks VC, MM c.1916
Buried	Zillebeke War Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom Commonwealth of Australia
Service / branch	British Army Australian Imperial Force
Years of service	1910 – 1913 1914 – 1917
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	6th Battalion
Battles / wars	First World War Gallipoli Campaign Western Front Battle of the Somme Battle of Pozières Battle of Passchendaele
Awards	Victoria Cross Military Medal

Frederick Birks VC, MM (31 August 1894 – 21 September 1917) was a Welsh-born Australian First World War veteran and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth forces. Born in Buckley, Flintshire, Birks served in the Royal Artillery for three years before emigrating to Australia in 1913. After serving as a non-commissioned officer during the landing at Gallipoli and the Battle of the Somme, Birks was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 4 May 1917. On 20 September, while advancing in Glencourse Wood, Ypres, Birks, alongside a corporal, forced a garrison to surrender and captured sixteen men in another attack. His actions were later recognised with the Victoria Cross. The following day, Birks was killed by a shell while attempting to save some of his men.

Early life

Birks was born in Buckley, Flintshire, North Wales on 16 August 1894 to Samuel Birks, a groom, and his wife Mary, née Williams. The second-youngest of six siblings, Birks was five years old when his father died in a coal-mining accident. He attended the local Anglican school in Buckley, without ever being absent or late. He was known to be adventurous, being active in boxing and association football as well as the local Church Lads' Brigade. Birks left school at fourteen, before entering the workforce as a labourer and steel rollerman in nearby Shotton. During 1910, Birks enlisted in the Royal Artillery, staying in the service for three years. On 29 August 1913, Birks migrated to Australia with two friends, disembarking in Melbourne. He went on to work in Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria as a labourer and later, a waiter. In late March 1914, at the age of nineteen, Birks lived in Largs Bay and started a relationship with sixteen year-old Suazy Gelvin. Suzy kept in contact with Birks throughout his service, although she apparently lost contact with him for some time in mid-1917. He is known to have lived in Norwood, a suburb of Adelaide, and in Hobart.

First World War

Birks enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force on 18 August 1914, only a few weeks after the war started. He trained at a camp in Broadmedows, and was assigned to the 2nd Field Ambulance of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps. The 2nd Field Ambulance boarded the HMAT A18 Wiltshire in Melbourne on 19 October 1914, and set sail for Egypt. After stopping in Albany, the unit arrived in Egypt on 10 December. After spending some time in Alexandria, Birks' unit was incorporated into the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and was sent into action at the Landing at Anzac Cove, providing medical support for the 2nd Infantry Brigade. The 2nd Brigade were also sent to Cape Helles, where they assisted in the attack on Krithia. On 26 June 1915, Birks was wounded by shrapnel but returned to service the next day, remaining on Gallipoli until 9 September.

The officers of the 6th Battalion, 23 July 1917. Birks is in front row, last on right

Birks returned to Alexandria and continued to serve there until 23 March 1916, when his unit was sent to Marseilles, France as a part of the British Expeditionary Force. He was promoted to lance corporal on 21 April 1916, and served as a stretcher bearer during the Battle of the Somme. On 26 July, Birks was engaged in duties at Pozières, as the Australian and British forces fought for supremacy of the village. Throughout the day, Birks "continually led his squad of stretcher bearers" through the village and Pozières Wood to the frontline, all the while being "exposed to heavy shell fire". Commended for his "constant good services", Birks was recommended for the Military Medal. The announcement of the decoration was promulgated in a supplement to the London Gazette on 14 November 1916, and he was later presented with his Military Medal by Lieutenant General Sir William Birdwood.

Birks was promoted as a temporary Wagon Orderly Corporal on 5 August 1916, and the rank was made substantive five days later. After his unit moved away from the front line, Birks had an opportunity to return to Buckley. There, he visited his old school and gave them a Turkish flag that he has attained while in Gallipoli. Following his return to France, Birks was hospitalised for five days with pyrexia. He rejoined his unit on 14 February 1917.

Commissioning

Birks took classes at the Australian 1st Division school in France, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 6th Battalion on 4 May 1917. He had served with the battalion earlier while a stretcher bearer, and began serving as an infantryman at Passchendaele. Passchendaele was characterised by the mud of the battlefield, and has been widely used as an example of attrition warfare—both the Commonwealth and German forces were suffering heavy casualties. When the Fifth Army was failing to made any appreciable headway, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig put General Herbert Plumer in command of the offensive.

Victoria Cross

Birks' battalion were ordered to attack and capture the German line parallel to them, and the men moved towards their positions from Zillebeke on the night of 18 September, coming under some fire from gas shells. 19 September was incident-free, with the battalion preparing to attack the next day, in what would become known as the Battle of Menin Road. Early in the morning of the 20th, a "light drizzle" fell over the battlefield and at 4am the Germans sent barrages in front of and behind the battalions position. At 5:40am, the battalion advanced.

The first resistance was met by Birks and a corporal, taking two machine gun positions as another group of officers rushed a strong post. They were attacked with bombs, and the corporal was seriously wounded. Birks continued on alone. Reaching the rear of the pillbox, he forced the occupants to surrender. Birks then led an attack a series of dugouts and pillboxes on the edge of Glencourse Wood, and fought against machine gun and bombs. He also assisted in the reorganisation and consolidation of Australian men who had drifted away from their unit.

The next day, 21 September, enemy shelling in response to the movement of Allied artillery had buried some men in Birks' platoon. Birks was attempted to dig out these men, "standing exposed", but another shell aimed at the C Coy post killed Birks, and four others, before he could save them.

Legacy

File:VCFrederickBirksGrave.jpg

Birks' Grave in Zillebeke Cemetery, Belgium

For his actions at Ypres, Birks was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross, the announcement of which was gazetted on 8 November 1917. His citation read:

War Office, 8th  November, 1917

His Majesty The KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Offices, Non-commissioned Officers and Man: —

2nd Lt. Frederick Birks, Late Aust. Imp. Force.

For most conspicuous bravery in attack when accompanied by only a corporal, he rushed a strong point which was holding up the advance. The corporal was wounded by a bomb, but 2nd Lt. Birks went on by himself killed the remainder of the enemy occupying the position, and captured a machine gun.

Shortly afterwards he organised a small party and attacked another strong point which was occupied by about twenty-five of the enemy, of whom many were killed and an officer and fifteen men captured.

During the consolidation this officer did magnificent work in reorganising parties of other units which had been disorganised during the operations.

By his wonderful coolness and personal bravery 2nd Lt. Birks kept his men in splendid spirits throughout. He was killed at his post by a shell whilst endeavouring to extricate some of his men who had been buried by a shell.

Birks was buried in the Zillebeke War Cemetery in Belgium. A memorial was constructed at his old school in Wales in 1921, and a portrait of him is on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, alongside his Victoria Cross. For his efforts in the campaign, he was also awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

References

• Ellis, James; Cox, Michael (2001). World War I Databook. Aurum. ISBN 1854107666.
• Nicholson, Gerald W. L. (1962). Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914–1919. Ottawa: Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationary.
• Snelling, Stephen (2000). Passchendaele 1917. VCs of the First World War. Great Brittain: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-905-778-60X.
• Staunton, Anthony (2005). Victoria Cross: Australia's Finest and the Battles they Fought. Prahran, Victoria, Australia: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 1-74066-288-1.
• Wigmore, Lionel; Harding, Bruce Alfred; Williams, Jeff; Staunton, Anthony (1986). They Dared Mightily. Australian War Memorial. pp. 101–102. ISBN 0642994714.