Royal Field Artillery.

Awarded the Military Medal in the London Gazette of 19 February 1917.

Briggs was a native of Burnley, Lancashire.

The Burnley Express of 3 February 1917 reported, Rescued a Chum, Burnley Gunner's Bravery. The Military Medal has been awarded to Gunner Fred Briggs of 9, Ridge Row, Burnley, for rescuing a injured chum. During the fighting on the Somme, he and three or four others were in a dugout with another man on lookout at the entrance. A gas shell burst in front of the shelter with the result that the lookout man was killed instantly. As the shelter filled up with gas, Gunner Briggs dashed out into the open to take up a position in a safer area, but fearing for the safety of his comrades he appealed to his officer to return to the dugout. Though under heavy shell fire, he quickly made the return journey only to find that two of the three occupants had been killed and the third was badly wounded. He assisted the wounded man to a comparatively safe position. It was this act that caused his superior officer to recommend him for the distinction. Gunner Briggs is 24 years of age, and up to enlisting was a weaver at Messrs. Lancaster's at Burnley Wood. He has two brothers in the army one of which is Rev. J. H. Briggs who is on the Blackburn circuit serving as a lance-corporal in the Royal Army Medical Corps, the other, Private John Briggs is also in the R.A.M.C. Gunner Briggs is connected to the Rehoboth Primitive Methodist Sunday School whose teachers and scholars are to present him with an illuminated scroll.