World War 2 Talk - View Single Post - VC Winners

spidge · 03-06-2008, 03:09 PM

Charles Hazlitt Upham VC & Bar

Charles Hazlitt Upham (centre), seen here with members of his platoon in North Africa, is probably New Zealand's most famous soldier. Born in Christchurch in 1908, Charles joined the 2nd NZ Expeditionary Force soon after war broke out in September 1939. He fought with the NZ Division in Greece in March 1941, then in Crete in May. His remarkable bravery during the bitter fighting on Crete earned him a Victoria Cross, awarded in October 1941.
In June and July 1942 Upham again showed tremendous courage leading his men in ferocious actions at Minqar Qaim and Ruweisat Ridge in the North African desert. In the latter battle he was wounded and captured by the Germans. After trying to escape from captivity several times, in 1944 he was sent to the notorious German prison at Colditz. After he was liberated in 1945, the military authorities decided that his actions at Minqar Qaim and Ruweisat Ridge merited the addition of a bar to his VC. As a result, he became one of only three people ever to win the Victoria Cross twice.
After the war Upham returned to farming life in Canterbury, where in died in 1994. Modest and selfless, but extremely tough and single-minded, Upham came to symbolise the steely determination and professionalism of the New Zealand Division in the Second World War.

03-06-2008, 03:09 PM	#11 (permalink)
spidge Legendary Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 8,172	Charles Hazlitt Upham VC & Bar Charles Hazlitt Upham (centre), seen here with members of his platoon in North Africa, is probably New Zealand's most famous soldier. Born in Christchurch in 1908, Charles joined the 2nd NZ Expeditionary Force soon after war broke out in September 1939. He fought with the NZ Division in Greece in March 1941, then in Crete in May. His remarkable bravery during the bitter fighting on Crete earned him a Victoria Cross, awarded in October 1941. In June and July 1942 Upham again showed tremendous courage leading his men in ferocious actions at Minqar Qaim and Ruweisat Ridge in the North African desert. In the latter battle he was wounded and captured by the Germans. After trying to escape from captivity several times, in 1944 he was sent to the notorious German prison at Colditz. After he was liberated in 1945, the military authorities decided that his actions at Minqar Qaim and Ruweisat Ridge merited the addition of a bar to his VC. As a result, he became one of only three people ever to win the Victoria Cross twice. After the war Upham returned to farming life in Canterbury, where in died in 1994. Modest and selfless, but extremely tough and single-minded, Upham came to symbolise the steely determination and professionalism of the New Zealand Division in the Second World War. __________________ Spidge, ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm