1. Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham was a New Zealand soldier decorated for actions during World War II.
60 Facts About Charles Upham
1. 2.
Charles Upham is one of three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice and the only fighting combatant to do so, the others being medical staff Arthur Martin-Leake and Noel Godfrey Chavasse.
3.
Charles Upham famously rejected offers of financial assistance, preferring to live a quiet life dedicated to his family and community.
4.
Charles Upham died on 22 November 1994 at the age of 86.
5.
Charles Upham was born in Christchurch on 21 September 1908, the son of John Hazlitt Charles Upham, a lawyer, and his wife, Agatha Mary Coates.
6.
Charles Upham's father was a great-grandson of artist John Hazlitt, while his mother was a granddaughter of pioneer colonist Guise Brittan.
7.
Charles Upham grew up a quiet, shy boy, very gentlemanly and courteous, and "no trouble at all".
8.
Charles Upham boarded at Waihi School, near Winchester, South Canterbury, between 1917 and 1922 and boarded at Christ's College, Christchurch, from 1923 to 1927.
9.
Upham's father was disappointed when his only son elected not to study law and join his father's practice, Charles stating, "I'd always be jealous of my friends on farms".
10.
Charles Upham plunged into the farm and study courses with an enthusiasm that convinced his parents that, after all, it was the right choice.
11.
Charles Upham was a dietitian working at Christchurch Hospital, after four years of hospital nursing.
12.
Charles Upham had an armful of red roses for her and he proposed marriage, but she declined, although they both continued in a relationship.
13.
In March 1937, he joined the Government Valuation Department, firstly under supervision, then alone, where Charles Upham quickly assimilated the techniques of land valuation.
14.
Charles Upham was aided by the scientific knowledge gained at Canterbury Agricultural College, but much more by his extensive experience of Canterbury land during his six years' work in the province.
15.
In February 1939, granted leave from the Valuation Department, Charles Upham returned to Canterbury Agricultural College to take a course in valuation and farm management.
16.
Now somewhat of an elder statesman, by virtue of his earlier days at the college and his wide farming experience, Charles Upham became a popular favourite of his fellow students.
17.
Charles Upham helped them liberally with their own studies, he played football with just as much vigour as before.
18.
Dear Sir, A young man by the name of Charles Upham has left the College to join your unit.
19.
Charles Upham was promoted to temporary lance corporal, but initially declined a place in an Officer Cadet Training Unit.
20.
In July 1940, Charles Upham was persuaded to attend the Officer Cadet Training Unit in Egypt.
21.
Charles Upham quickly won the respect of his men as a capable officer who was greatly concerned for their safety and comfort.
22.
The day after a German landing, Charles Upham's company were part of a counter-attack, the goal of which was to retake the airfield at Maleme.
23.
Charles Upham led the 20th and the 28th Battalion in an attack on several German machine gun posts.
24.
Charles Upham, accompanied by a corporal, now ran 600 yards through the German lines, killing two Germans en route and successfully bringing the company back to safety.
25.
Charles Upham was blown over by one mortar shell and painfully wounded by a piece of shrapnel behind the left shoulder by another.
26.
Charles Upham received a bullet in the foot which he later removed in Egypt.
27.
On one occasion, in this fast-moving situation, Charles Upham left his platoon to retreat under his sergeant, while he went forward to warn another company that was about to be left behind.
28.
Charles Upham was totally against the award, modestly feeling that it was undeserved.
29.
Charles Upham was gazetted for the VC in October 1941.
30.
Charles Upham went in and placed a grenade through a window, destroying the crew of one machine gun and several others, the other machine gun being silenced by the fire of his sections.
31.
Charles Upham was then sent to bring in a company which had become isolated.
32.
Second Lieutenant Charles Upham was blown over by one mortar shell, and painfully wounded by a piece of shrapnel behind the left shoulder, by another.
33.
Charles Upham received a bullet in the foot which he later removed in Egypt.
34.
Charles Upham fell and shammed dead, then crawled into a position and having the use of only one arm rested his rifle in the fork of a tree and as the Germans came forward he killed them both.
35.
Charles Upham showed superb coolness, great skill and dash and complete disregard of danger.
36.
Charles Upham's conduct and leadership inspired his whole platoon to fight magnificently throughout, and in fact was an inspiration to the Battalion.
37.
Kippenberger believed that Charles Upham "was fretting for more action" and "would get himself killed too quickly".
38.
The battalion suffered heavy losses in the campaign and Charles Upham helped rebuild it as commander of C Company.
39.
Charles Upham would stay in the Eighth Army until the end of the war, first in North Africa.
40.
The ensuing battle saw Captain Charles Upham's company participate in fierce hand-to-hand fighting with the Germans.
41.
Once more, Charles Upham inspired his men to press home their attack.
42.
Charles Upham was credited with personally destroying several machine gun posts and a tank as they stormed the ridge.
43.
Charles Upham became a prisoner of war on 15 July 1942.
44.
Charles Upham later had the wound dressed by an Allied POW doctor.
45.
Charles Upham became entangled in barbed wire when he fell between the two fences.
46.
Charles Upham was only allowed to visit the toilet when the train was travelling at high speed to prevent him from jumping through a window.
47.
Nevertheless, Charles Upham prised open the toilet window and jumped onto the tracks, knocking himself unconscious.
48.
Charles Upham headed for the headquarters of the American unit that had captured the town.
49.
Charles Upham changed into the American combat uniform, fitted on the boots and the US helmet.
50.
Charles Upham prepared to go into action with the Americans.
51.
For four days Charles Upham stayed with the US forces in the Colditz area, clothed and equipped as one of them, waiting for the call forward.
52.
General Lindsay Inglis received citations for both Minqar Qaim and Ruweisat that each individually suggested Charles Upham merited the VC for either occasion independently, but because of the excessive rarity of multiple VC awards, he opted to combine the citations into a single one forwarded to the King.
53.
In spite of being twice wounded, once when crossing open ground swept by enemy fire to inspect his forward sections guarding our mine-fields and again when he completely destroyed an entire truck load of German soldiers with hand grenades, Captain Charles Upham insisted on remaining with his men to take part in the final assault.
54.
Charles Upham continued to dominate the situation until his men had beaten off a violent enemy counter-attack and consolidated the vital position which they had won under his inspiring leadership.
55.
Charles Upham obtained a war rehabilitation loan and bought a farm on Conway Flat, Hundalee, North Canterbury.
56.
Charles Upham was surprised with an appearance on This Is Your Life in 1985.
57.
Charles Upham died in Canterbury on 22November 1994, surrounded by his wife and daughters.
58.
Charles Upham is buried in the graveyard of St Paul's Church in Papanui.
59.
On 2 December 2007, Charles Upham's VC was among nine stolen from locked, reinforced glass cabinets at the museum.
60.
In 1953, Charles Upham was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.