Frederic Cecil Currer Briggs
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Frederic Cecil Currer Briggs | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 November 1889 |
| Died | 22 November 1919 (aged 29) |
| Cause of death | Peritonitis |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Indian Army |
| Unit | King's Regiment (Liverpool) |
| Known for | Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre (1919) |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Order (1917) |
Frederic Cecil Currer Briggs (26 November 1889 - 22 November 1919), was a British army officer with the King's Regiment (Liverpool) who served in India, Mesopotamia, and the North-West Frontier.
On 11 April 1919 he accompanied Reginald Dyer to Amritsar, and escorted him to Jallianwalla Bagh two days later.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Frederic Briggs was born on 26 November 1889, in Pipestone, Minnesota, to William Currer Briggs.[2][3] He completed his early education from Bedford Grammar School.[4][5] After training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he joined the King's Regiment (Liverpool).[6]
Military career
[edit]Briggs was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 3 November 1909.[7] He was subsequently posted to India, travelling aboard the HMHS Rewa in January 1910.[8] He was promoted to lieutenant later that same year.[9]
During the First World War, he attained the rank of captain in December 1914.[10] In May 1917 he was posted to Mesopotamia with the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) as acting major and second-in-command of a battalion.[11] For his service in the campaign, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in August 1917.[3][12]
On 11 April 1919, Briggs accompanied Reginald Dyer to Amritsar, and escorted him to Jallianwalla Bagh two days later.[13][14] His account of the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre was submitted as a witness statement to the official Hunter Inquiry.[15]
He later participated in the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the Waziristan campaign.[2]
Death and legacy
[edit]On 22 November 1919, Briggs underwent surgery for appendicitis at Bannu and died the following day from peritonitis.[15][a] At the time of his death, he had in possession, Dyer's personal notes on the massacre.[15]
Briggs's name was inscribed on the Delhi memorial, India Gate,[3] and on a plaque at his school.[16]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Wagner, p.160
- ^ a b c "Major Frederic Cecil Currer Briggs". www.cwgc.org. Commonwealth War Graves. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ a b c "We remember Frederic Cecil Currer Briggs". www.livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Cricket". Bedfordshire Times and Independent. 12 June 1908. p. 9. Retrieved 22 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Creagh, Sir O'Moore; Humphris, Edith M. (1924). The V. C. and D. S. O. Standard art book Company Limited. p. 211.
- ^ "Infantry". Army and Navy Gazette. 6 November 1909. p. 20. Retrieved 22 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Infantry" (PDF). The London Gazette. No. 28303. 2 November 1909. p. 8015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
- ^ "Infantry". Evening Mail. 25 July 1910. Retrieved 22 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Infantry" (PDF). Supplement to the London Gazette. No. 29013. 18 December 1914. p. 10899. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ "Infantry" (PDF). Supplement to the London Gazette. No. 30104. 29 May 1917. Archived from the original on 28 September 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
- ^ "Awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order" (PDF). Supplement to the London Gazette. No. 30252. 25 August 1917. Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ Wagner, p.132
- ^ Collett, p. 215
- ^ a b c Collett, pp. 335-336
- ^ "E W C Griffith and F C C Briggs DSO". Imperial War Museums. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- Report of the Committee Appointed in the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab, Etc: Amritsar. Vol. III. H.M. Stationery Office. 1920.
Bibliography
[edit]- Collett, Nigel (2007). The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer. London: A&C Black. ISBN 1-85285-575-4.
- Furneaux, Rupert (2022). Massacre at Amritsar. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-68932-7.
- Wagner, Kim A. (2019). Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear & the Making of a Massacre. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-24546-2.