Fred Greaves

He stormed a pillbox, then rallied his men against the enemy.

Fred Greaves VC was a Derbyshire coal miner whose courage at Poelcapelle, Belgium, on 4 October 1917 earned the Victoria Cross. Serving with the 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, he helped capture a German strongpoint and then organised the defence of an exposed flank when his company’s officers had become casualties.

Born in Killamarsh on 16 May 1890, Greaves was the son of coal miner Jude Greaves and Edith Louisa, née Rodgers. Educated at Bonds Main Council School, he followed his father into mining. A devastating underground accident nearly ended that working life: a coal truck ran over him, breaking both legs and crushing his pelvis. He spent two years in Chesterfield Hospital before rebuilding his strength.

Initially rejected for military service because of his injuries, Greaves persisted and enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters on 26 February 1915. He served with the 9th Battalion at Gallipoli, followed by Egypt and the Western Front. Wounded during the Somme fighting in 1916, he subsequently returned to his battalion and joined a Lewis gun section.

During the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917, Acting Corporal Greaves’s platoon came under machine-gun fire from a concrete stronghold near Poelcapelle. With the platoon commander and sergeant casualties, he recognised that delay would leave the men behind their protective artillery barrage. Accompanied by another non-commissioned officer, he reached the rear of the position and attacked with grenades. The defenders were killed or captured, and four machine guns were taken.

Later that day, a German counter-attack threatened the flank after neighbouring troops temporarily withdrew. With every officer in his company a casualty, Greaves gathered his men, established additional defensive posts and directed rifle and machine-gun fire across the enemy’s advance. His leadership helped prevent a dangerous situation from becoming a breakthrough.

His Victoria Cross was gazetted on 26 November 1917. King George V presented it at Buckingham Palace on 2 January 1918. Greaves subsequently became a sergeant and served until the end of the war.

Returning to Derbyshire, he resumed mining and became a pit deputy and safety officer at Markham Colliery. After the disaster of 10 May 1938, which killed 79 miners, he took part in rescue and recovery work. He also served in Civil Defence during the Second World War.

His commitment to saving lives continued through the colliery’s St John Ambulance Division. Appointed a Serving Brother of the Order of St John in 1948, he also received its Service Medal with two bars. He retired as a pit safety officer in 1955.

Sergeant Fred Greaves died at Brimington on 8 June 1973, aged 83. His life joined battlefield gallantry with decades of service to his fellow miners.