page_title: Samuel Frickleton
section_title: Later life
hierarchical_section_title: Samuel Frickleton / Later life
caption_attribution_description: English: Grave of Victoria Cross recipient Samuel Frickleton.
context_page_description: Samuel Frickleton, VC, ED was a soldier in the New Zealand Military Forces and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award of the British Commonwealth for gallantry in the face of the enemy.
  Born in 1891 in Scotland, Frickleton moved to New Zealand in 1913 and was a miner when he enlisted with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force the year after the outbreak of the First World War. He took ill on reaching the Middle East and had to be repatriated to New Zealand. Although he had been discharged from the NZEF, he rejoined after recovering his health. He was posted to the 3rd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, then serving on the Western Front. Wounded during the Battle of Messines when he destroyed two machine gun posts, an action that earned him the VC, he received medical treatment in England. He then underwent officer training but his health was still poor and before the end of the war he was returned to New Zealand.
  Post war, Frickleton served in the New Zealand Staff Corps before returning to civilian life in 1927. He tried farming and worked as a house manager.
context_section_description: After the war, Frickleton transferred to the New Zealand Staff Corps. He was promoted to acting lieutenant and served as assistant provost marshal for the Wellington Military District for several months until June 1919. He was then transferred to the Canterbury Military District.  For health reasons, he retired from the military with the rank of captain in April 1927.
  In civilian life he tried several professions. At first, he took up business in Wellington and then tried farming at Waikanae. He later worked as a house manager.  His poor health notwithstanding, in 1934 he joined the Territorial Force with the rank of captain. He was later awarded the Efficiency Decoration (ED) for his long service in the military. He was part of the New Zealand contingent sent to London in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He was returned to the Officer Reserve the same year. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Frickleton was unsuccessful in his attempt to enlist in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force being raised for overseas service. Instead he served on the home front as Inspector, New Zealand Military Forces, for the duration of the war. He was returned to the Retired List in 1948. 
   
  In his later years, Frickleton worked for the Colonial Motor Company as a clerk. In 1956, he was one of 400 VC winners who paraded in Hyde Park in London for the VC centenary. He died on 1 September 1971 in Wellington after a long illness. He was survived by his wife, Valeska née Gembitzsky whom he married in 1922, and a son. He is buried in the Taita Serviceman's Cemetery, Naenae.
caption: Frickleton's grave at Taita Serviceman's Cemetery
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