Charles Hazlitt Upham (21 September 1908 – 22 November 1994) was a New Zealand soldier during the Second World War. He is one of three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) twice and the only fighting combatant to be so honoured, the others being doctors Arthur Martin-Leake and Noel Godfrey Chavasse.
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, he attended Christ's College and later the Canterbury Agricultural College, where he earned a diploma in agriculture. Before the outbreak of the war, Upham worked as a sheep farmer and a manager of a high country station and later at the Government Valuation Department. In 1939, with the advent of war, he enlisted in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, where he quickly rose through the ranks, from private to officer.
Upham's first Victoria Cross was awarded for his actions in the Battle of Crete in May 1941, where he displayed remarkable courage and leadership under fire. Despite being wounded, he led multiple attacks against enemy positions and helped evacuate wounded soldiers. His second was from his actions during the First Battle of El Alamein in July 1942, where once again he demonstrated bravery and resilience in the face of intense enemy fire, despite being severely wounded.
After the war, Upham returned to New Zealand, where he continued to farm and became involved in veterans' affairs. He famously rejected offers of financial assistance, preferring to live a quiet life dedicated to his family and community. He died on 22 November 1994 at the age of 86. A state funeral in Christchurch Cathedral on 25 November 1994 was conducted with full military honours, and he was buried in the graveyard of St Paul's Anglican Church.
Early life Upham was born in Christchurch on 21 September 1908, the son of John Hazlitt Upham, a lawyer, and his wife, Agatha Mary Coates. His father was a great-grandson of artist John Hazlitt, while his mother was a granddaughter of pioneer colonist Guise Brittan. He grew up a quiet, shy boy, very gentlemanly and courteous, and "no trouble at all". He was not a strong child physically, as well as having a slightly shorter leg than the other, leading to a doctor suspecting Upham of having a mild case of poliomyelitis. He boarded at Waihi School, near Winchester, South Canterbury, between 1917 and 1922 and boarded at Christ's College, Christchurch, from 1923 to 1927.
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". So Upham's father enrolled Charles at Canterbury Agricultural College (now known as Lincoln University), where the practical and theoretical sciences of farming are taught at the university level, joining in 1928.
Upham rapidly found himself enthralled with the work. He plunged into the farm and study courses with an enthusiasm that convinced his parents that, after all, it was the right choice. For two years he was first in agriculture and gained firsts also in veterinary science and economics. With a diploma of agriculture, Upham left Canterbury Agricultural College in 1930 to begin life on the land. For the next six years, he learnt his craft in the hills, gullies, and plains of Canterbury. He worked as shepherd, musterer and farm manager.
In 1935, at Riccarton Park Racecourse, he met Molly McTamney, who was a distant relative of Noel Godfrey Chavasse. She was a dietitian working at Christchurch Hospital, after four years of hospital nursing. She was described as "brunette, pretty, and gay". They danced together that evening, and the next day Upham was waiting as she came off duty. He had an armful of red roses for her and he proposed marriage, but she declined, although they both continued in a relationship.
In March 1937, he joined the Government Valuation Department, firstly under supervision, then alone, where Upham quickly assimilated the techniques of land valuation. He 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. The following year, he became engaged to McTamney. In February 1939, granted leave from the Valuation Department, Upham returned to Canterbury Agricultural College to take a course in valuation and farm management.
Now somewhat of an elder statesman, by virtue of his earlier days at the college and his wide farming experience, Upham became a popular favourite of his fellow students. He helped them liberally with their own studies, he played football with just as much vigour as before. The course he took was restricted to men of wide practical backgrounds and was designed primarily to train men for managerial posts in government departments. At the end of the year, he had no trouble with the necessary exams, obtaining his Diploma in Valuation and Farm Management. But the darkening months of 1939 saw Upham thinking more and more deeply about events on the other side of the world.
Second World War With the call for volunteers in September 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) at the age of 30, and was posted to the 20th Canterbury-Otago Battalion, part of the New Zealand 2nd Division.
Although he already had five years' experience in the New Zealand Army Territorial Force, in which he held the rank of sergeant, he signed on as a private. He was soon promoted to temporary lance corporal, but initially declined a place in an Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU). In December, he was promoted to sergeant and six days later sailed for Egypt.
In July 1940, Charles Upham was persuaded to attend the Officer Cadet Training Unit in Egypt. Upon successfully completing the course, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 2 November and given command of a platoon in 20th Battalion. Upham quickly won the respect of his men as a capable officer who was greatly concerned for their safety and comfort.
Battle of Greece and Crete In March 1941, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was deployed to Greece as part of the Allied attempt to counter the German-Italian invasion there. In a short-lived campaign, the Axis forces swept through Greece, resulting in 50,000 Allied troops having to be evacuated by the Royal Navy. Just over a third of their force was now deployed on the Greek island of Crete. The day after a German landing, Upham's company were part of a counter-attack, the goal of which was to retake the airfield at Maleme. Upham led the 20th and the 28th (Māori) Battalion in an attack on several German machine gun posts. Advancing under fire with no artillery support, Upham's men took out the first machine gun using grenades and pistols. Upham himself then crept up to a house where another machine gun was based and tossed in some grenades to end their resistance. A further machine gun now opened up on the New Zealanders. Once more, their officer took it upon himself to crawl to within of the Germans, lobbing some grenades into the enemy position. However, despite Upham's successes, the Allied counter-attack failed due to German air superiority. They were forced to withdraw. As they retreated under German fire, Upham carried a wounded man back to safety and then encouraged several of his men to do likewise. While Upham got his platoon out, it now transpired that one company had not received the order to withdraw and was now isolated behind the advancing German lines. Upham, accompanied by a corporal, ran through the German lines, killing two Germans en route, and successfully led the company back to safety.
The Allies fought a desperate retreat towards the south of the island in the hope of yet another evacuation. During the following two days, his platoon occupied an exposed position on forward slopes and was continuously under fire. Upham was blown over by one mortar shell and painfully wounded by a piece of shrapnel behind the left shoulder by another. He disregarded the wound and remained on duty. He also received a bullet in the foot which he later removed in Egypt. On 25 May at Galatas, Upham's platoon stopped under cover of a ridge, observed the enemy, and brought the platoon forward when the Germans advanced. They killed over forty with fire and grenades and forced the remainder to fall back.
Each time the Allies tried to hold a line, the Germans broke through. On one occasion, in this fast-moving situation, Upham left his platoon to retreat under his sergeant, while he went forward to warn another company that was about to be left behind. Suddenly he ran into two Germans, who opened fire. Falling to the ground, Upham pretended to be dead. While feigning death, he managed to rest his gun on the fork of a tree trunk and as the Germans came close, he opened fire, killing both of them. The second German was so close that he fell onto the muzzle of Upham's rifle.
On 30 May at Sfakia his platoon was ordered to deal with an enemy party which had advanced down a ravine near Force Headquarters. Though exhausted, he climbed the steep hill to the west of the ravine, placed his men in positions on the slope overlooking the ravine and himself went to the top with a Bren gun and two riflemen. By clever tactics, he induced the enemy party to expose itself and then at a range of shot 22 and caused the remainder to disperse in panic. During the whole of the operations he suffered from diarrhoea and was able to eat very little, in addition to being wounded and bruised.
For his actions in the Battle of Crete, his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger, recommended Upham for the Victoria Cross. Charles Upham was totally against the award, modestly feeling that it was undeserved. Eventually, his commanding officer convinced him that it was for his bravery and the service of the whole unit. He was gazetted for the VC in October 1941.
First VC Citation
General Sir Claude Auchinleck presented Upham with his VC ribbon at a ceremonial parade by 4 Brigade on 4 November 1941.
North African campaign In November 1941 he was annoyed when his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel H. K. Kippenberger, decided to leave him out of the second Libyan campaign. Kippenberger believed that Upham "was fretting for more action" and "would get himself killed too quickly". The battalion suffered heavy losses in the campaign, and Upham helped rebuild it as commander of C Company. He was promoted to lieutenant at the time. Upham and the rest of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force now formed part of the British Eighth Army, based in Egypt. Upham would stay in the Eighth Army until the end of the war, first in North Africa. In late 1941 and early 1942, the Eighth Army were on the defensive, being pushed back by Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.
In late June 1942, the New Zealanders were in danger of being completely cut off as Rommel swept into Egypt. On the night of 27 June, they desperately made a break for British lines. The ensuing battle saw Captain Upham's company participate in fierce hand-to-hand fighting with the Germans. Upham used grenades to lethal effect. In fact, he threw them at such short range that he was injured in both arms by shrapnel from his own grenades. The breakout was a success, and the New Zealand Division was moved into the defensive line centred on the small railway town of El Alamein.