Frederick Birks, VC, MM (16 August 1894 – 21 September 1917) was a Welsh-born Australian First World War soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth forces. Born in Buckley, Flintshire, Birks served in the Royal Artillery for three years before emigrating to Australia in 1913. After serving as a non-commissioned officer during the landing at Gallipoli and the Battle of the Somme, Birks was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 4 May 1917. On 20 September, during the Battle of Passchendaele, while advancing in Glencorse Wood, Ypres, Birks, alongside a corporal, forced a garrison to surrender and captured sixteen men in another attack. His actions were later recognised with the Victoria Cross. The following day, Birks was killed by a shell while attempting to save some of his men. Early life Birks was born in Buckley, Flintshire, Wales, on 16 August 1894 to Samuel Birks, a groom, and his wife Mary, née Williams. The family lived at Garden Cottage, Lane End. The youngest of six siblings, Birks was five years old when his father died in a coal-mining accident. He attended the local Anglican school (St. Matthews) in Buckley and was awarded a medal there for 11 years "without ever being absent or late." He was known to be adventurous, being active in boxing and association football as well as the local Church Lads' Brigade. Birks left school at fourteen, before entering the workforce as a labourer and steel rollerman in nearby Shotton. During 1910, Birks is thought to have enlisted in the Royal Artillery, staying in the service for three years. On 29 August 1913, Birks migrated to Australia with two friends Emrys Edward Jones and William Gray (both from Buckley). They sailed from London on the SS Otway disembarking in Melbourne. He went on to work in Tasmania where he stayed with a Herbert Jones (a friend of his brother), South Australia and Victoria as a labourer and later, a waiter. In late March 1914, at the age of nineteen he started a relationship with sixteen-year-old Susan Gelven who lived in Largs Bay. Susan kept in contact with Birks throughout his service, although she apparently lost contact with him for some time in mid-1917. He is known to have lived in Norwood, a suburb of Adelaide