Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Frederick Alexander Burrows, (10 November 1897 – 23 May 1973) was a salesman and an

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

soldier who served in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s. A non-commissioned officer in the First World War, during the Second World War he was commander of the 2/13th Battalion during

Operation Crusader Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert campaign during World War II by the British Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) against the Axis forces (German and ...

and the

Siege of Tobruk The siege of Tobruk () took place between 10 April and 27 November 1941, during the Western Desert campaign (1940–1943) of the World War II, Second World War. An Allies of World War II, Allied force, consisting mostly of the 9th Division ...

Early life

Frederick Alexander Burrows was born at

Wahgunyah Wahgunyah is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia. The town is on the southern bank of the Murray River, opposite Corowa, New South Wales, in the Shire of Indigo. Wahgunyah is north east of the state capital, Melbourne and west of Al ...

in the Australian state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

on 10 November 1897. He was the second child of a labourer, also named Frederick, and his wife, Hester . He went to schools in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and was working as a grocer's assistant at the time of his enlistment in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in April 1915. He falsified his age in order to join the AIF.

First World War

Embarking for Egypt in July 1915, Burrows was posted to the 7th Battalion, at the time serving on the Gallipoli peninsula. The battalion remained there until the evacuation in December, after which it was withdrawn back to Egypt for reorganisation. In March 1916, it was transferred to the Western Front in France. By this time, Burrows had been promoted to

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corp ...

. Burrows fought in the

Battle of Pozières The Battle of Pozières (23 July – 3 September 1916) took place in northern France around the village of Pozières, during the Battle of the Somme. The costly fighting ended with the British in possession of the plateau north and east of the ...

of July 1916, during which he was wounded. He was promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

a few months later. The 7th Battalion was transferred to the Ypres sector, and then the Somme, rotating between the two for the next two years. In August 1918, during the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

, Burrows was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

for his leadership of a

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

party assaulting German-held trenches. He was wounded for a second time later that month which saw him evacuated to England for medical treatment. On recovering from his wounds, he was commissioned as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

. He returned to Australia several months after the end of the war, and was discharged from the AIF.

Interwar period

Returning to civilian life, Burrows found employment at an engineering company in Melbourne. He retained an interest in military service, and joined the militia, known as

Citizens Military Force The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

. He served initially in the 14th Battalion but in 1934, following a transfer to his employer's offices in Sydney where he took up a position as sales manager, he was posted to the 36th Battalion. Four years later, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed commander of the battalion.

Second World War

In March 1940, Burrows was appointed commander of the Eastern Command Recruit Training Depot and then the following month enlisted in the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

for service aboard. He was made commander of the 2/13th Battalion. His new command numbered about 900 personnel and was part of the 20th Brigade, 7th Division. He soon earned the nickname ''the Bull'', on account of his robust voice. Burrows and his battalion arrived in the Middle East in November 1940. In February 1941, the 20th Brigade, including Burrow's battalion, was transferred to the newly formed 9th Division. The following month, the battalion was in Cyrenaica. In the run-up to and during the

, Burrows led his battalion well. During this time, he had to achieve a fighting withdrawal of his battalion at Er Regima, near Benghazi, in the face of advancing German armour and was an aggressive commander at Tobruk, striving to extend the defensive lines. In the latter stages of the defence, his battalion came under the command of the Polish Brigade and was responsible for the western perimeter. When offensive operations in conjunction with

began in November 1941, the 2/13th Battalion provided part of the reserve, the only Australian unit to be involved. During these operations, he arranged and conducted a night attack at Ed Duda on 30 November, successfully recapturing the position that had been lost earlier in the day. The next day he was seriously wounded by artillery. Because of his wounds, Burrows returned to Australia. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

for his services in North Africa. He was also awarded a Polish award, the Cross of Valour. In May 1942, he was promoted to brigadier. He commanded the 1st Infantry Brigade, a CMF formation stationed in New South Wales, for the rest of the war. He was placed on the retired list in July 1945, his wounds preventing him from returning to active duty.

Later life

On being discharged, Burrows returned to his pre-war role with Cooper Engineering. In 1946, he set up the Adelaide office for the firm. He also served on the Repatriation Board for South Australia for a time. In 1959, he went into retirement. His wife, Isabel , who he had married in 1921, died in 1963. The following year he married again, to Thelma, a widow. He died at Adelaide's Repatriation General Hospital on 23 May 1973. He was survived by his second wife and two children from his first marriage.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Frederick 1897 births 1973 deaths Military personnel from Victoria (state) Australian brigadiers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Australian recipients of the Military Medal