Frederick Birks

Frederick Birks, VC, MM was a Welshborn Australian First World War soldier 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 noncommissioned officer during the landing at Gallipoli and the Battle of the Somme, Birks was commissioned as a second lieutenant onMay 1917. OnSeptember, while advancing in Glencorse 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.

Birks was born in Buckley, Flintshire, Wales, onAugust 1894 to Samuel Birks, a groom, and his wife Mary, ne Williams. The family lived at Garden Cottage, Lane End. The youngest of six siblings, Birks was five years old when his father died in a coalmining accident. He attended the local Anglican school in Buckley and was awarded a medal there foryears 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 is thought to have enlisted in the Royal Artillery, staying in the service for three years. OnAugust 1913, Birks migrated to Australia with two friends Emrys Edward Jones and William Gray . They sailed from London on the SS Otway disembarking in Melbourne. He went on to work in Tasmania where he stayed with a Herbert Jones , South Australia

Source: Wikipedia