Fred Greaves

Born on 16 May 1890 in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, Fred Greaves was the eldest of twelve children born to Jude Greaves, a coal miner, and Edith Louisa Greaves. Raised in the industrial heartland of North East Derbyshire and educated at Bonds Main Council School, Greaves entered the coal pits early in life. His early employment was marked by severe physical injury; while working at Barlborough No. 2 Pit, he was struck and run over by a coal truck, sustaining a crushed pelvis, broken ribs, a fractured jaw, and severe fractures to both legs that required two years of continuous treatment at Chesterfield Hospital. Discharged from hospital, faced with a nine-mile walk home, Greaves gradually restored his mobility through competitive cycling, becoming a regional champion.

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Greaves attempted to enlist in September 1914 but was rejected on medical grounds due to his industrial injuries. Persisting in his efforts, he was accepted into the British Army on 26 February 1915, joining the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) under service number 23715, later renumbered 203532. Posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion within the 11th (Northern) Division, Private Greaves deployed for active service in July 1915, landing at Suvla Bay during the Gallipoli Campaign on 20 July 1915. Following the evacuation of Gallipoli, the battalion moved to Egypt in February 1916 before transferring to the Western Front in France in July 1916. Wounded late in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, Greaves returned to his unit in early 1917 and was assigned to a Lewis gun section.

By October 1917, Greaves was serving as an Acting Corporal during the Third Battle of Ypres. On 4 October 1917, during the Battle of Broodseinde, the 9th Battalion attacked German positions near Poelcapelle, east of Ypres in Belgium. Advancing behind a creeping barrage, his platoon was halted by intense machine-gun fire from a fortified concrete pillbox. When both the platoon commander and platoon sergeant became casualties, the attack risked losing the protection of the artillery barrage. Acting Corporal Greaves, followed by another non-commissioned officer, moved across open ground to the rear of the pillbox, threw grenades inside, killed or captured the defenders, and secured four machine guns.

Later that afternoon, a heavy German counter-attack caused a temporary collapse in an adjacent brigade on the flank. With all company officers wounded or killed, Greaves collected the surviving men, established defensive posts on the exposed flank, and brought enfilade rifle and machine-gun fire to bear on the advancing enemy, breaking up the counter-attack.

His actions were recognised by the Victoria Cross, gazetted in the Fourth Supplement to The London Gazette on 26 November 1917:

"For most conspicuous bravery, initiative and leadership, when his platoon was temporarily held up by machine-gun fire from a concrete stronghold. Seeing that his platoon commander and sergeant were casualties, and realising that unless this post was taken quickly his men would lose the barrage, Cpl. Greaves, followed by another non-commissioned officer, rushed forward regardless of his personal safety, reached the rear of the building and bombed the occupants, killing or capturing the garrison, and taking four enemy machine-guns. It was solely due to the personal pluck, dash and initiative of this non-commissioned officer that the assaulting line at this point was not held up, and that our troops escaped serious casualties. Later in the afternoon, at a most critical period of the battle, when the troops of a flank brigade had given way temporarily under a heavy counter-attack and when all the officers in his company were casualties, this gallant non-commissioned officer quickly grasped the situation. He collected his men, threw out extra posts on the threatened flank, and opened up rifle and machine-gun fire to enfilade the advance. The effect of Cpl. Greaves’ conduct on his men throughout the battle cannot be over-estimated, and those under his command responded gallantly to his example."

Greaves returned to England on leave prior to his investiture by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 2 January 1918. Promoted to Sergeant, he served through the end of hostilities and was demobilised on 28 January 1919. Returning to Derbyshire, he resumed working in the mining industry as a pit deputy and safety officer at Markham Colliery. During the Markham Colliery disaster of 10 May 1938, which claimed 79 lives, Greaves spent a week continuously engaged in underground rescue and recovery operations. In the Second World War, he served in the Civil Defence Services. A member of the Markham Colliery St John Ambulance Division for over twenty-five years, he was appointed a Serving Brother of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem on 22 December 1948 and received the St John Ambulance Brigade Long Service Medal with two bars. Sergeant Fred Greaves died at his home in Brimington on 8 June 1973.