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ANDREW, Brigadier
Leslie Wilton (1897-1969)
b. Manawatu. Won the Victoria
Cross at La Basseville, France in 1917.
In World War Two he commanded
the 22nd Battalion of the Second NZEF, and led the victory
contingent in London in 1946. |
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BASSETT, Cyril
Royston Guyton (1892-1983)
b. Auckland. Bassett was
the first New Zealander to win the Victoria Cross in World War
One.
Bassett was a corporal in the
New Zealand Divisional Signals Company, and was one of the
signallers in support of the attack by NZ, Gurkha and British
soldiers on Chunuk Bair Ridge, Gallipoli.
The New Zealanders achieved the
ridge despite horrendous losses and after trying to hold it were
dislodged.
The VC was awarded on 7 August
1915, when he kept lines of communication open to the men
beleaguered by intense enemy fire on the ridge of Chunuk
Bair. |
BROWN, Donald Forrester
(1890-1916),
b. Dunedin. A sergeant in the 2nd Otago Battalion of the New Zealand
Division, won the Victoria Cross during the Somme Battle in World War
One, on 15 September 1916, and died in action a fortnight later. He was
a farmer before he went to the war. COOKE, Thomas (1881-1916) b.
Kaikoura. Was a private in the 8th Infantry Battalion of the Australian
Army in World War One. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously
for extreme valour under fire as a machine-gunner at Pozières, in the
Battle of the Somme, on 24 July 1916.
CRICHTON, James
(1879-1961)
b. Ireland. Served in the South African War with the Cameron Highland
Regiment. In World War One, Crichton relinquished his rank of Warrant
Officer to join a frontline regiment as private, and at the age of 39
was posted to the Auckland Regiment. He was awarded the Victoria Cross
four weeks from the end of World War One, at Crevecoeur, France. He swam
a river several times and ran through enemy fire to communicate between
company headquarters and a group of isolated comrades, and then under
fire dismantled German explosive charges from a bridge to enable
reinforcements to move forward.
| ELLIOTT, Keith
(1916- )
b. Apiti, Manawatu. Won the
Victoria Cross at the Battle of Ruweisat Ridge in the Western
Desert on 15 July 1942. Sergeant Elliott withdrew his platoon from
a situation in which a substantial number of NZ troops had been
taken prisoner by a group of retreating German tanks.
In escaping past enemy
positions, Elliott and his small band of men captured over 140
prisoners, killed or wounded more than 30 Germans and Italians and
destroyed eight machine-gun posts. Elliott was badly wounded in
four places. In 1947, after going back to farming for a period, he
became a clergyman and was for several years City Missioner in
Wellington. |
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FORSYTH, Samuel (1891-1918)
b. Wellington Served in France during World War One with the Second
Auckland Battalion, and won the Victoria Cross posthumously. Sergeant
Forsyth was shot by a German sniper after directing an operation against
machine-guns that enabled the NZ attack to continue during the battle
for Bapaume.
FREYBERG, Bernard Cyril
(1889-1963)
b.London. First Baron of Wellington, New Zealand, and Munstead, Surrey.
At the start of the 1914-18 war Freyberg went to England, joined the 7th
(Hood) Battalion of the Royal Naval Brigade and went to the Belgian
front.
One night in April 1915 he swam ashore in the Gulf of Saros to
divert the Turks' attention from the main landing at Gallipoli and
escaped unharmed despite heavy fire. This earned him a Distinguished
Service Order medal. Freyberg served in France and won his Victoria
Cross for action on the Somme in November 1916.
The citation said, 'This single
officer enabled the lodgement (in the battle for Beaumont Village) of
the corps to be permanently held, and on this point the line was
eventually formed' for later attacks. He was carried away..on a
stretcher after being wounded four
times. By the end of the war Freyberg
was a Temporary Brigadier with two bars to his DSO, the Croix Militaire
de Guerre (CMG) and had been six times mentioned in
despatches. He was
wounded nine times. Troops who served with him in World War Two say
there was hardly a part of his body unmarked by scars.
He was recalled
in 1939 and was invited by the NZ government to command the New Zealand
Division in the Middle East in November. Briefly in 1941 he was Allied
Commander-in-Chief in Crete, controlling the evacuation, and he led the
New Zealanders until the end of the war, for which he gained a third bar
to his DSO.
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FRICKLETON, Samuel (1891-1971)
b. Scotland A coal miner from
Blackball, in Westland, who won the Victoria Cross when he
captured two German machine-gun nests single-handed and killed all
the occupants in July 1917 at Messines, Belgium.
Frickleton, a lance-corporal in
the Third Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, was severely
wounded in the battle. |
GRANT, John Gilroy
(1889-1970) b.
Hawera Sergeant with the First Battalion, Wellington Regiment, in World
War One. He won the Victoria Cross for attacking and capturing a group
of German machine-gun nests near Bancourt in September 1918. He later
settled in Auckland.
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HARDHAM, William
James (1876-1928)
b. Wellington. The only New
Zealander to win the Victoria Cross during the South African War
and the first to win it overseas.
He won the VC near Naauwpoort in
January 1901 when he rode to the rescue of a colleague whose horse
had been shot from under him, and who had been injured as he fell
to the ground.
With a group of Boer marksmen
trying to cut him down, Hardham lifted him into his saddle and ran
to safety behind a rock outcrop pulling the horse behind
him.
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| HEAPHY, CHARLES (1820-81)
b. London The first British
colonial soldier to win the Victoria Cross.
Heaphy was awarded the VC for
his 'total disregard for his own safety' during a surprise attack
by Maori near Paterangi Pa, not far from Te Awamutu, in February
1864.
Seven bullets hit him or went
through his clothing from point -blank range but he continued to
go forward to help two fellow soldiers.
When he was finally forced back,
he stayed in a commanding position to direct fire against the
Maori, and prevent them from moving in to kill the soldiers and
take their equipment. |
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HINTON, John (Jack)
Daniel (1908-97)
b. Riverton. A sergeant of the
20th Battalion in World War Two, he won the Victoria Cross at
Kalamata, in Greece, in April 1941.
For hand-to-hand fighting
against the Germans in the last days of the Greek campaign, before
he was wounded and captured by the Germans.
His award was announced to
him by the commandant of the camp in which he was held prisoner in
Germany. Hinton settled in Auckland after the war and died in
1997. |
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The Commendation
Medal of Merit and Honour is the highest Commendation currently
awarded to active duty service members of the Hellenic Armed
Forces. Instituted in May 1991 by Greek Presidential Decree no.
192 it is awarded in one class to General Officers who have
meritoriously commanded Army, Navy or Air Force Formations or
rendered exceptional services to the Armed Forces or the
Fatherland. It is also awarded to Foreign Officers (active or
reserve) for exceptionally meritorious services to the Hellenic
armed Forces or the Nation. The first awards were made during the
50th anniversary of the Battle of Crete and were presented by the
Greek Defence Minister Mr. Ioannis Varvitsiotis to 9 British, 4
Australian and 5 New Zealand veterans. Those listed below are
reported to have received the medal, however only the medals to
Hinton and Upham have been confirmed to date.
The Medal is a
gilt medallion, the obverse of which depicts a likeness of Hellas
holding a laurel wreath. The reverse of all Commendation Medals is
the same, bearing the emblem of the Hellenic Defence General Staff
a design of a crossed anchor, pilots brevet and an ancient Greek
helmet, below which is inscribed '1991'. |
| HULME, Alfred Clive
(1911-82)
b. Dunedin Joined the 23rd
Battalion as a sergeant and won the Victoria Cross for eight days
of sustained fighting on Crete during May 1941.
He stalked and killed 33 German
snipers and once disguised
himself as a German paratrooper and killed a number of the enemy
on the outskirts of Galatos.
After the war he settled in the
Bay of Plenty. |
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JUDSON, Reginald Stanley
(1881-1972)
b. Auckland. Won the three highest awards for gallantry open to a
non-commissioned officer, within one six-week period during July and
August 1918. This time is still a record. He went overseas as a sergeant
in the First Battalion, Auckland Regiment, in 1915.
Serving in France,
he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 24-25 July, the Military Medal
on 16 August and the Victoria Cross on 24 August, when he
single-handedly captured a machine-gun nest, 'a prompt and gallant
action [which] not only saved lives but also enabled the advance to
continue unopposed', according to the citation.
He rose to the rank of Lieutenant. Judson settled in Auckland, served on the
City Council for
ten years and on other local bodies, and farmed in Mangonui for some
years before returning to Auckland where he died aged 91. |
LAURENT, Henry John
(1895-1987)
b. Hawera. Served in World War One with the Second Battalion of the New
Zealand Rifle Brigade on the Western Front, and won the Victoria Cross
in September 1918 after Sergeant Laurent's section killed 30 of the
enemy and captured 112, for the loss of one man. Laurent settled in
Hastings after the war.
| McKENNA, Colour-Sergeant
The
Alexandra Redoubt (Tuakau) was attacked by the Ngati Maniapoto in 1863,
and defended by the 65th Regiment, a member of which, Colour-Sergeant
McKenna, earned the Victoria Cross for bravery during the battle.
A
monument erected at Tuakau carries the names of the British troops who
died in action during the Land Wars in the Waikato. |
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NGARIMU,
Moananui-a-Kiwa
(1918-43)
b.Kokai Pa, near Whareponga,
Ruatoria.
The only full Maori to have won
the Victoria Cross of the Maori Battalion during World War Two. (Tebaga
Gap in Tunis in March 1943)
Over 24 hours, Second Lieutenant
Ngarimu and his platoon attacked and held a hill which enabled the
Germans to fire on other units of the New Zealand Division at
Tebaga Gap.
Greatly outnumbered, he and the
few members of his platoon still able to fight, actually met a
German attack by charging.
He died firing his sub-machine
gun from the hip, 'defiantly facing the enemy', said the citation,
coming 'to rest almost on top of those of the enemy who had fallen
to his gun just before he fell to theirs'. |
NICHOLAS, Henry James
(1891-1918)
b. Lincoln. A private in the First Battalion of the Canterbury Regiment
during World War One. He won the Victoria Cross near Polderhoek on the
Western Front in December 1917, by single-handedly capturing a German
pillbox, killing 12 of the 16 enemy and wounding the other four. He was
killed in action a year later, only 19 days before the armistice.
RHODES-MOORHOUSE, William Barnard
(1887-1915)
b. London, part-Maori The first airman to win the Victoria Cross, he
legally adopted the name Rhodes-Moorhouse. After requesting to fly on
active duty, Rhodes-Moorhouse was posted to France and in April 1915, in
a B-E 26 biplane, attacked a key railway junction at Courtrai. He scored
a direct hit with a 100-lb bomb after being hit in the stomach by a
bullet during his approach, was hit again in the leg and the hand as he
checked the extent of the damage, and flew back to his base through
heavy ground fire aimed at his slow and low-flying aircraft, determined
not to land behind German lines.
He was cheered by Indian troops as he
flew his battered biplane back behind the British front line. He died of
wounds the next day, and was awarded the VC posthumously for what the
British Commander, General Sir John French, then called 'the most
important bomb dropped in the war so far'. Rhodes-Moorhouse left an
infant son who died fighting in the Battle of Britain 23 years later.
They are buried side by side on a hill near the family home in
Dorset.
SHOUT, Alfred John (1882-1915)
b. NZ Served with the New Zealand Army in South Africa, then settled in
Sydney in 1905. He served as a captain in the first infantry battalion,
Australian Imperial Forces, in World War One. He won the Military Cross
during the Gallipoli landing, and became one of seven defenders of Lone
Pine who were awarded the Victoria Cross. Shout died of wounds aboard a
hospital ship two days after being withdrawn, and the VC award was
posthumous.
SANDERS, William Edward
(1883-1917)
b. Auckland A merchant seaman. Within one year, during World War One, he
rose from sub-lieutenant to lieutenant-commander and won both the DSO
and Victoria Cross. Sanders received his medals for skill and daring as
commander of HMS Prize, one of the Q-ships of World War One which acted
as decoys to trap and sink German submarines. He was killed when the
Prize went down with all hands, after being hit by a torpedo in August
1917.
STORKEY, Percy Valentine (1891-1969)
b. Napier. Served as a colour-sergeant with the Wellington Regiment
while a law student, before World War One. He was with the 19th
Battalion of the Australian Imperial Forces in France when he won the
Victoria Cross in April 1918. Lieutenant Storkey led ten men in an
attack on German machine-gun installations, killing or wounding about 30
and capturing 53.
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TRAVIS, Richard Charles
(aka Dickson Cornelius Savage) (1884-1918)
b. Opotiki.
One of the most famous NZ soldiers of World War One, winning
the Victoria Cross, the Croix de Guerre (Belgian), the Distinguished
Conduct Medal and the Military Medal.
He served with the Second
Battalion, Otago Regiment, on Gallipoli, and became famous for his
forays into No-Man's-Land during two years on the Western Front. |
|
Travis VC (on right) with his
mate, William Patterson, great uncle of the image donor, Rick Patterson. |
He was
described by one commentator as a 'dangerously patient', courageous and
cunning scout, sniper and raider.
He prowled in No-Man's-Land during one
period of 40 successive nights, seeking out changes in enemy positions
and taking a prisoner back for interrogation. He won his major award in
July 1918 for conspicuous gallantry over a period of many hours during
action against the Germans near Rossignol Wood. Sergeant Travis was
killed the following day and was buried with full military honours at
the front among his comrades, the battalion diary recording that his
death 'cast a gloom over the whole battalion.... never missed an
operation... went over the top 15 times.' His true name was Dickson
Cornelius Savage but he enlisted and served as R.C. Travis.
TRENT, Leonard Henry
(1915-86) b.
Nelson. Joined the RAF in 1937 and was awarded the Victoria Cross for
bravery and dedication to duty during a bombing raid on a power-house in
Holland in May 1943. Squadron leader Trent was in one of ten Ventura
bombers which set out on the raid but, because of a series of problems
and bad luck, they were left virtually at the mercy of anti-aircraft
fire and enemy fighters during the whole of their route over enemy
territory. Trent's was the only one of the raiders to get to the target
and, although his bombs overshot, blast damage was done to the
power-house. On the way back, his plane was shot down and he spent the
rest of the war in captivity. He was one of the men who made a mass but
unsuccessful breakout from Stalag Luft III war prison in March 1944.
This escape was the subject of Paul Brickhill's book, "The Great
Escape". Trent was in the RNZAF from 1944 to 1947, and then with
the RAF until his retirement in 1965.
TRIGG, Lloyd Allan
(1914-1943)
b. Houhora, Northland.
-
The only British combatant in either of the World
Wars to be awarded a Victoria Cross on the basis of evidence given by
the enemy he had engaged.
Trigg was commissioned a flying officer in
1942, after training in Canada. In August that same year, while
operating in Liberator bombers from Morocco against German submarines,
he went in for the kill against U-468. Although the aircraft was hit
early and was on fire from end to end, Trigg kept up the attack and sank
the submarine with depth charges, before the aircraft finally crashed
into the sea because Trigg, seriously wounded, could no longer control
it. Some of the submarine crew escaped using a dinghy from the Liberator
and, when they were captured by the Royal Navy, told the story of
Trigg's dogged courage. He had completed 46 operational sorties by the
time of his death.
 |
- Victoria Cross
- Distinguished Flying Cross
- 1939/45 Star
- Atlantic Star
|
- Defence Medal
- 1939/45 War medal
- NZ 1939/45 War Service Medal
|
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UPHAM, Charles
Hazlitt (1908- )
b Christchurch. He is the only
combat soldier ever to win the VC bar, although two medical
officers achieved the honour during World War One.
Upham volunteered for service at
the outbreak of war and earned the Victoria Cross and Bar for
outstanding gallantry and leadership in Crete in May 1941, and at
Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in July 1942.
After being severely wounded at
Ruweisat Ridge, Upham was captured by the Germans and recuperated
in an Italian hospital.
He began a private war with his
captors and ended the war in Colditz Castle with other 'dangerous'
allied prisoners. |
|
|
VC & Bar |
- VC & Bar
- 1939/45 Star
- Africa Star
- Defence Medal
- 1939/45 War medal
|
- NZ War Service Medal
- Elizabeth II Coronation
Medal
- QEII Silver Jubilee Medal
- NZ 1990 Commemorative medal
Also Greek
War Medal & Greek Commendation Medal of Merit and Honour
(see below) |
 |
Enlisted in 1939 at
the outbreak of World War II, Sergeant Upham left New Zealand with
the advance party of the 20th Battalion in the 1st Echelon New
Zealand Division. He saw active service in Greece, Crete and North
Africa.
Lieutenant Upham was
awarded the Victoria Cross for 9 days of sustained and conspicuous
heroism, skill and leadership in Crete in May 1941. He was badly
wounded in his shoulder and arm on the 4th day. |
|
The Commendation
Medal of Merit and Honour is the highest Commendation currently
awarded to active duty service members of the Hellenic Armed Forces.
Instituted in May 1991 by Greek Presidential Decree no. 192 it is
awarded in one class to General Officers who have meritoriously
commanded Army, Navy or Air Force Formations or rendered exceptional
services to the Armed Forces or the Fatherland. It is also awarded
to Foreign Officers (active or reserve) for exceptionally
meritorious services to the Hellenic armed Forces or the Nation. The
first awards were made during the 50th anniversary of the Battle of
Crete and were presented by the Greek Defence Minister Mr. Ioannis
Varvitsiotis to 9 British, 4 Australian and 5 New Zealand veterans.
Those listed below are reported to have received the medal, however
only the medals to Hinton and Upham have been confirmed to date.
The Medal is a
gilt medallion, the obverse of which depicts a likeness of Hellas
holding a laurel wreath. The reverse of all Commendation Medals is
the same, bearing the emblem of the Hellenic Defence General Staff a
design of a crossed anchor, pilots brevet and an ancient Greek
helmet, below which is inscribed '1991'. |
The bar, or second Victoria
Cross, was awarded to Captain Upham for battle actions in North Africa at
Minqar Qaim on 28 and 29 June 1942 where he played a fearless and
conspicuous role in observation when on defence and led his company when
the encircled New Zealand Division successfully broke out in a night
action.
 |
FIT
FOR A HERO: Papanui RSA member Ivan Ward, Waimakariri MP Clayton
Cosgrove and Papanui RSA president Barry Clark alongside the
refurbished grave site of Captain Charles Upham VC and Bar.
The Papanui RSA sought, and received permission,
from the family to reconfigure the plot and erect an appropriate
monument.
We located a large rock from the North Canterbury
farm of Alex and Jenny Fergusson which was used as the
headstone.
We moved the Coates monument to the left and
placed the rock beside it, then poured a coloured concrete
foundation around both of them. |
| The
plaques were cleaned, the lettering repainted and placed on a
sloping plinth along the front was struck and placed below a large
coloured granite poppy and RSA crest made by Robertson Monumental
Masons. Two Lest we Forget roses have been planted at the rear of
the plot and members of Papanui RSA carried out the remainder of the
work.
Mr Clayton Cosgove, MP for Waimakariri approached
the government on our behalf for financial assistance to carry out
the project. Through Veterans Affairs New Zealand we received
finance to pay for the plaque and granite poppy. Mr Cosgrove and the
Papanui RSA Travel Section made donations and RNZRSA covered all
remaining costs.The completed project was unveiled on ANZAC Day by
Mr Cosgrove and Captain Upham's daughter Virginia Mackenzie. The
memorial is a simple, yet strong monument to mark the resting-place
of one of New Zealand's greatest soldiers. |
Captain Upham’s use of hand grenades in this battle were legendary.
Again at Ruweisat Ridge 14 - 15 July 1942 his role on attack and
reconnaissance was outstanding. He was severely wounded during this action
but kept with his men until captured by a German tank brigade.
Charles Upham was born in Christchurch on 21 September 1908 and educated
at Christ’s College and Lincoln College where he earned a Diploma in
Agriculture. In 1930 he began his life in the high country and hills of
the Hurunui District where he mustered
and shepherded. It built Upham into a man of wiry strength and great
physical endurance.
He learnt about the
land and nature and improved his natural skills of observation and
survival. He accepted difficulties as part of normal life as things
one had to surmount, which he did with total disregard for personal
comfort. He joined the Government Valuation Department in 1937 and
continued to tramp the countryside where his physical toughness was
legendary with his fellow workers. He returned to Lincoln College in
1939 but his studies were interrupted when he volunteered for the NZ
Army at the outbreak of W.W.II in September 1939.
Upham was married to Molly McTamney in 1945. From 1946 to 1993 they
lived and farmed on their property ‘Landsdown’ at Conway Flat
and raised three daughters. He made a valuable contribution to his
local community but perhaps the lasting memory will be of a man who
had forthright views but an ability to discuss issues with anybody.
|
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WARD, James Allen
(1919-41) b. Wanganui, a
school-teacher before the war. Won the Victoria Cross, in World War Two,
in July 1941. He climbed out along the wing of a Wellington bomber to
push a canvas engine cover into a hole near an engine, to block petrol
from keeping a fire going, thereby saving the crew from having to
abandon the aircraft which was returning from a bombing raid.
Sergeant-Pilot Ward was killed in action two months later, after he had
been given command of a 75 Squadron bomber. He was returning from a raid
on Hamburg when he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire, keeping the
plane aloft long enough for his crew to bail out but in the end crashing
with it.
 Sergeant
James Ward (RNZAF)
"On 7/8 July 1941, while returning
from one of the attack's on Münster, Sergeant James Ward of No 75 (NZ)
Squadron was a second pilot in a Wellington attacked by an Me 110 over the
Zuider Zee. The rear-gunner was wounded, much damage done, the starboard
wing set ablaze. The crew were preparing to abandon the aircraft when Ward
volunteered to go out on the wing and try to smother the flames with a
cockpit cover which had served in the plane as a cushion. Attached to a
rope and with the help of the navigator, he climbed through the narrow
astro-hatch - far from easy in flying gear, even on the ground - put on
his parachute, kicked holes in the Wellington's covering fabric to get
foot and hand-holds on the geodetic lattices, and descended three foot to
the wing. He then worked his way along to behind the engine, and, despite
the fierce slipstream from the propeller, managed while lying down to
smother the fire. Isolated from the leaking petrol pipe, this later burnt
itself out. Ward, exhausted, regained the astro-hatch with great
difficulty: "the hardest of the lot," he wrote, "was
getting my right leg in. In the end the navigator reached out and pulled
it in." Despite all the damage, the crew got home to a safe landing -
perhaps the most remarkable thing, apart from Ward's exploit, being the
fact that the pilot had no idea at the time what Ward was doing.
This deed performed by Ward, a young
schoolmaster before the war, earned him the Victoria Cross, and which must
surely be unsurpassed for calculated bravery. Sadly, Sergeant Ward was
killed on a Hamburg raid only ten weeks later - before he received his
Victoria Cross."
WEATHERS, Lawrence Carthage (1890-1918)
b. Te Kopuru, near Dargaville. He moved to South Australia before
joining the 43rd Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Forces
with whom he won the Victoria Cross (posthumously) in September 1918 at
Peronne on the Western Front.
 |
 |
The
New Zealand Cross
photo: G Preece who was
awarded the NZC
for
details |
On 10th March 1869 a special
decoration for valour - The New Zealand Cross - was instituted by
the Governor of New Zealand, Sir George Bowen, for Acts of bravery
by colonial soldiers.
Imperial troops
were eligible for the Victoria Cross but it took years for the
recommendations to be acted upon.
To overcome these problems Bowen
created the New Zealand
Cross as a special decoration equivalent to the VC. |
|
VC image by www.cqms.com
Some photos from http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz/ |
|
