Samuel Frickleton, VC, ED (1 April 1891 – 1 September 1971) was a soldier in the New Zealand Military Forces and a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), 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 (NZEF) 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. Frickleton was awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions in dealing with the machine gun posts in Messines. The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest gallantry award that could be bestowed on a soldier of the British Empire.

Citation

“For most conspicuous bravery and determination when with attacking troops, which came under heavy fire and were checked. Although slightly wounded, Lance Corporal Frickleton dashed forward at the head of his section, rushed through a barrage and personally destroyed with bombs an enemy machine gun and crew, which were causing heavy casualties. He then attacked the second gun, killing the whole of the crew of twelve. By the destruction of these two guns he undoubtedly saved his own and other units from very severe casualties and his magnificent courage and gallantry ensured the capture of the objective. During the consolidation of the position he suffered a second severe wound. He set, throughout, a great example of heroism.”

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. The first of the VC recipients of the NZEF to return to New Zealand, Frickleton was accorded a hero's welcome. A reception was held in Frickleton's honour at the Auckland Town Hall.

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. In the mid-1930s, Frickleton joined the part time Territorial Force and would be later awarded the Efficiency Decoration (ED). He went to London in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and again nearly 20 years later for the VC centenary. He served on the home front during the Second World War, and eventually retired from the military in 1948. He died in 1971 at the age of 80.