Freyberg was born in Richmond and emigrated with his parents in 1891, at the age of 2, to New Zealand. He was educated at Wellington where he excelled at sport winning many swimming championships. He qualified as a dentist, and then began a military career and in 1914 was commissioned into the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. He became a friend of Sir Winston Churchill and served at Antwerp and Gallipoli. In 1915 Freyberg officiated at the funeral of Rupert Brooke the poet, as he commanded Brooke’s battalion, and he chose the place on the island of Skyros. 

In 1917 at the age of 28 he became the youngest brigadier-general in the British Army. He was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) at the battle of the Somme, and commanded the 29^th Davison near Passchendaele. He was wounded nine times during the First World War and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) with three bars, and the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG). He is the most decorated man in the British Army. He worked at the British War Office during the wars, and commanded the 2^nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Middle East 1939-1945.