2nd Lieutenant Frederick Birks, VC, MM

Frederick Birks was born in Buckley, Flintshire, Wales, on 16 August 1894 to Samuel Birks, a groom, and his wife Mary, née 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 coal-mining accident.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/memoryshare/A37377336]

• Attended the local Anglican school (St. Matthews) in Buckley and was awarded a medal there for 11 years "without ever being absent or late".
• Left school at fourteen, before entering the workforce as a labourer and steel rollerman in nearby Shotton.
• 1910, Birks is thought to have enlisted in the Royal Artillery, staying in the service for three years.
• 29 August 1913, Birks migrated to Australia with two friends Emrys Edward Jones and William Gray (both from Buckley). They sailed from London on the SS Otway disembarking in Melbourne.
• Went on to work in Tasmania where he stayed with a Herbert Jones (a friend of his brother), South Australia and Victoria as a labourer and later, a waiter.
• March 1914, at the age of nineteen he started a relationship with sixteen year-old Susan Gelven who lived in Largs Bay. Susan kept in contact with Birks throughout his service, although she apparently lost contact with him for some time in mid-1917.
• Known to have lived in Norwood, a suburb of Adelaide where he lodged with a Mrs E. Cornelius, and in Hobart.
• Enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force on 18 August 1914, a few weeks after the war started.
• 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
• 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. During the battle, Birks was carrying wounded under heavy shell and rifle fire, in areas where stretchers were unable to reach. His "devotion to duty and good work" earned him his first Military Medal recommendation.
• On 26 June 1915, Birks was wounded by shrapnel but returned to service the next day, remaining on Gallipoli until 9 September.
• 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.
• Birks 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.

Birks' grave is in the Perth Cemetery (China Wall) near Ypres. A memorial was constructed at his old school in Wales in 1921, funded largely by contributions from local people. When the school was demolished the Memorial was moved to outside St. Matthews Church where it stands now. On Remembrance Sunday the local branch of the British Legion continues to place a wreath of poppies on the Memorial. A portrait of Fred is on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, alongside his Victoria Cross. He is also remembered in the Museum in Ypres, Belgium (Cloth Hall). His service during the war earned him the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.[http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8080/showPerson?pid=23232]

BIRKS, FREDERICK

• Rank: Second Lieutenant
• Date of Death: 21/09/1917
• Age: 23
• Regiment/Service: Australian Infantry, A.I.F. 6th Bn.
• Awards: V C, M M
• Grave Reference: I. G. 45.
• Cemetery: PERTH CEMETERY (CHINA WALL)
• Additional Information: Son of Samuel and Mary Birks. Born at Buckley, Flintshire, Wales.

Citation

An extract from the Third Supplement to "The London Gazette," No. 30372, of 8th November, 1917, records the following:- "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."

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/103010/BIRKS,%20FREDERICK

Sources and References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Birks
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/memoryshare/A37377336
• http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8080/showPerson?pid=23232