b. 25/10/1889 Charing, Kent. d. 20/03/1963 Oakland, USA.
Frederick George Coppins (1889-1963) was born on 25th October 1889 in Charing, Kent. His father, Joseph Coppins Croucher, was originally from West Ashford, Kent. He was married twice, his second wife, Mary Ann nee Wells, was Frederick’s mother. They married in Woolwich on 3rd April 1885. Frederick had three siblings – Joseph, Ellen and Albert.
Nothing is known of Frederick’s education. Frederick became a farm labourer until he enlisted with the Royal West Kent Regiment at Maidstone, Kent on 30th December 1907. He was posted to the 1st Battalion in Dover on 3rd June. On 2nd May 1910 he was imprisoned for 14 days. He was then posted to Quebec Barracks in Bordon, near Aldershot. He then was posted to Dublin, Ireland, where he served in D Company. On 28th February 1912 he was listed as a deserter and it is assumed that he emigrated to Canada soon afterwards.
Frederick G Coppins VC
He eventually settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his family, and on the outbreak of war in September 1914, he enlisted with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles (R Wpg Rif) are a Primary Reserve one-battalion infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. Nicknamed the “Little Black Devils”, they are based at Minto Armouries in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles are part of Land Force Western Area’s 38 Canadian Brigade Group.
He served in the same battalion as Corporal Alexander Picton Brereton – also a Victoria Cross recipient – the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles) of the Manitoba Regiment. He arrived in France in December 1914, but contracted scarlet fever. He returned to France after treatment on 12th February 1915, but was absent at Pradelles, near Hazebrouck on 7th February. As a result he was fined 7 days pay on 21st February. He was in trouble again when charged with being drunk and absent from billets in May 1915. On 31st May 1915, he was fined and sentenced to one year hard labour by a field general court martial on 8th June but the hard labour was suspended on 19th August.
In May 1916, Frederick was confined awaiting trial for being drunk on active service. Following the trial on 30th May, he was given 90 days Field Punishment No. 1. However, this was changed to one year hard labour due to his previous poor record. He was released from prison on remission on 28th April 1917. On 24th January 1918 he stumbled and injured his left knee on a rusty nail in the forward area. He was admitted to No 2 Canadian Field Ambulance and transferred to No 18 Casualty Clearing Station and 7th Stationary Hospital, Boulogne on 26th January. On 15th April he was promoted to acting corporal.
Coppins was serving as a corporal in an attack on a German position called Hatchet Wood, near the villages of Warvillers and Vrély, south of the town of Albert, France, on August 9th, 1918. On that day, Corporal Coppins’ platoon came unexpectedly under fire of numerous machine-guns. It was not possible to advance or retire and there was no cover. Corporal Coppins, calling on four men to follow him, leapt forward in the face of intense machine-gun fire and rushed straight for the guns. The four men with him were killed and he was wounded, but going on alone, he killed the operator of the first gun and three of the crew and took four prisoners. Despite his wound, he then continued with his platoon to the final objective.
Following the award of the VC, Fredreick Coppins received his medal from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 24th October 1918.
In 1919, Coppins enlisted as a Special Constable in Winnipeg at the time of the Winnipeg General Strike, and broke two ribs in a melee. His role in the Strike was remembered by James Dunwoody DSO, DCM who commanded a mixed group of soldiers tasked with dealing with the strikers. He recalled “One incident occurs to me and that was that a man called Coppins – Coporal Coppins, VC who disobeyed my orders by breaking ranks and being hit over the head by a brick bat – turned his horse into the mob at the side and accompanied by another trooper was pulled off his horse and badly beaten up. We managed to rescue him and get him back in the line again. We made our way to the city hall and by that time the trouble was cleared.”
He later moved to Oakland, California, where he worked as a construction foreman for Pacific Gas and Electric. He appeared in two films, All Quiet on the Western Front and A Man from Wyoming, ironically playing a German machine gunner in both. The latter film starred Gary Cooper who asked him about his VC action. Fred replied “I was just mad. That’s all. It infuriated me to be lying there taking it without giving anything back. If there has been six inches of earth to hide behind I’d never had done it.”
He passed away in the VA Hospital in Livermore, California, at the age of 73 on 20th March 1963. He never married. His funeral service was attended by representatives of The Royal Canadian Legion, the Last Post Fund and Canada’s consul general. He was cremated and his ashes interred at the Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, California. He is commemorated with a VC commemorative stone unveiled on 9th August 2018 at Sundial Garden, Charing, Kent, is named on the VC obelisk in Barrie, Ontario, and with Plaque No 17 on the York Cemetery VC Memorial in Toronto.
In addition to the VC, he was awarded the British War Medal 1914-20, Victory Medal 1914-19, George VI Coronation Medal 1937 and Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953. He was reported to have left his VC in Los Angeles for safekeeping, but when he went to collect it, it was gone. He did not see it again for 38 years when it arrived in a package from London. Although it was bequeathed to the 8th Battalion Overseas Association, it was presented to Valour Road Memorial Branch, Royal Canadian Legion, Winnipeg on 26th September 1965. His medals were then donated to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum, Winnipeg, Manitoba,Canada.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: ROYAL WINNIPEG RIFLES MUSEUM, WINNIPEG, CANADA.
BURIAL PLACE: CHAPEL OF THE CHIMES, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, USA. (CREMATED)
Acknowledgements:
Curator of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum – Images of the Medal Group and reverse of his VC medal.