Bernard “Tiny” Freyberg VC, CMG, DSO\nended World War One a highly decorated hero – celebrated in Britain as well as\nhis homeland of New Zealand. He had served with the British forces: his\nDistinguished Service Order (DSO) was won at Gallipoli, his Victoria Cross (VC)\non the Somme and, at the age of 27, he was made the youngest Brigadier-General\nin the British Army. He would go on to command the 2nd New Zealand\nDivision in World War Two and become Governor-General of New Zealand.<\/p>
Born in London, he grew up in New Zealand\nafter his family emigrated and he attended Wellington College, in the capital city. <\/p>
In 1921, still suffering from the many\nwounds he received during the war, he returned to New Zealand for several weeks\nto recuperate. He turned down all requests for public appearances and a civic\nreception, but he did take time to visit his old school and address an assembly\nof the boys. <\/p>
One of those schoolboys, Max Riske, vividly\nrecalled the event some 60 years later in a radio interview. As Max explains,\nthe boys were expecting a stirring speech from a glorious war hero – but got\nsomething quite different from the man who had lost two brothers and many\nfriends in the war.<\/p>"); $('.summaryWrap').removeClass('mi'); $('.summaryWrap').addClass('en'); $('.language a.maori').removeClass('active'); $('.language a.english').addClass('active'); $('.js-year').html("Year:"); $('.js-location').html("Location:"); $('.js-location-name').html('Wellington, New Zealand'); }