Frederick Barter

The Welsh Victoria Cross Hero Who Captured 102 Germans at Festubert

With only eight volunteers beside him, Company Sergeant Major Frederick Barter charged a German position at Festubert, captured three officers and 102 soldiers, seized roughly 500 yards of enemy trench, and then discovered and cut eleven German mine leads. He was just 24 years old. It was an extraordinary feat of battlefield leadership that would earn the Cardiff-born soldier the Victoria Cross, but it was not the last time Frederick Barter would distinguish himself under fire.

Frederick Barter was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 17 January 1891. He joined the 3rd Reserve Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in December 1908 and had risen to sergeant before the First World War transformed his military career. Recalled for service in August 1914, Barter reached France on 25 November and served with the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. By the end of that year he had become a Company Sergeant Major.

His defining moment came during the Battle of Festubert on 16 May 1915. Fighting in the first line of captured German trenches, Barter called for volunteers to help extend the British position. Eight men answered. Barter led them forward with bombs, overwhelmed the enemy position, captured three German officers and 102 other ranks, and secured approximately 500 yards of trench. He then located eleven enemy mine leads and cut them, reducing the danger to the troops occupying the newly captured ground. His Victoria Cross citation opened by praising his "most conspicuous bravery and marked ability." The award was published in the London Gazette on 29 June 1915, and King George V personally invested Barter with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 12 July.

Winning the Victoria Cross did not end Barter's front-line career. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Special Reserve of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in August 1915. That same month he received a remarkable foreign gallantry distinction from Imperial Russia. The London Gazette officially recorded 3902 Company Sergeant Major Frederick Barter, VC, 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, as a recipient of the Cross of the Order of Saint George, 3rd Class. This is important because some later displays have incorrectly represented his Russian award as another class. The official Gazette entry is unambiguous.

Barter's war then took him far from the trenches of France. In 1917 he was seconded to the Indian Army and served with Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles, initially on the North-West Frontier and later in Palestine. There he proved that Festubert had not been a single exceptional moment. During operations in 1918, Barter was ordered to conduct a flank attack with two platoons. He led them up difficult, steep ground, turned the enemy flank, positioned one platoon and its Lewis guns to block the enemy's escape, and personally led the other platoon into the position from the rear and flank. The result was the destruction or capture of almost the entire enemy garrison. His Military Cross citation praised his conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty, and the award was published in the London Gazette in July 1918.

Then came one of the most extraordinary twists in Barter's story. A Victoria Cross recipient himself, he later found his own life dependent upon another man's courage. During fighting at El Kufr in Palestine on 10 April 1918, Barter was pinned down close to an enemy machine gun. Rifleman Karanbahadur Rana of the Gurkhas acted with exceptional bravery, enabling Barter to escape from the deadly position. Rana was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross. Few military careers can claim such a remarkable connection, a VC hero surviving because of the actions of another future VC recipient.

Barter remained with the Indian Army after the war, eventually reaching the rank of Captain, before retiring in November 1922. His wartime service also brought entitlement to the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-1920 and Victory Medal 1914-1919. He later received the King George VI Coronation Medal 1937. Together with his Victoria Cross, Military Cross and Russian Cross of St George, 3rd Class, these honours form the verified lifetime ribbon rack associated with his military career.

Retirement did not end Frederick Barter's service to his country. During the Second World War he returned to uniform as a Major in the Home Guard, commanding the 4/7th Company of the 4th Middlesex Home Guard. The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum records this later chapter of his service, demonstrating that the man who had fought at Festubert and in Palestine was still prepared to serve more than two decades after winning the Victoria Cross.

Frederick Barter died on 15 May 1953 at St Ann's Nursing Home, Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset. His ashes were scattered in the Garden of Remembrance at Bournemouth Crematorium. His Victoria Cross and medal group are preserved by the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum at Caernarfon Castle, ensuring that the story of one of Wales's most remarkable First World War soldiers remains accessible to future generations.

Frederick Barter's legacy rests on more than the letters VC MC after his name. At Festubert he transformed eight volunteers into an attacking force that captured more than a hundred enemy soldiers. In Palestine he again led from the front and earned the Military Cross. He served with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the Indian Army, the Gurkhas and later the Home Guard. His career is a striking reminder that the Victoria Cross marked one moment of supreme courage in a military life filled with leadership, danger and repeated service.