Major Bernard Cyril Freyberg

Hood Battalion

Just after midnight, a few hours before the Allies would first storm Cape Helles, Freyberg slipped from his ship into the bitterly cold water. He was an expert swimmer and had volunteered for this task. It took him an hour and a quarter to swim the 3 km to shore, where he lit the first of several flares that were intended as diversions. 

 

Credits
Image: Bernard Cyril Freyberg, Te Aro Baths, Oriental Bay, Wellington. Ref: 1/2-044404-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22834291 Quotes: Peter Hart, Gallipoli, Oxford University Press, 2011.
GALL_Zone4_PS_BernardCyrilFreyberg_4.mp3

Hear dramatic narrated extracts from Freyberg’s own writing.

 

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