Charles Hazlitt Upham

Born 21 Sept 1908 - Died 22 Nov 1994

Service number: 8077 AWMM
Also known as: Charlie AWMM
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: WW2 Captain/Military AWMM
War: World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
Jayforce, 1945-1948 AWMM

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Boyer, Charles Percy Samuel (1945). V.C. Recipients of the First and Second World Wars. Group portrait of eleven of New Zealand Victoria Cross recipients from the First and Second World War on the steps of Parliament in Wellington. Front row left to right: John Hinton, Keith Elliott, Charles Hazlitt Upham, Alfred Clive Hulme, Samuel Frickleton, John Gildroy Grant. Back row, left to right: Leslie Wilton Andrew, Reginald Stanley Judson, James D. Crichton, Henry (Harry) John Laurent, Cyril Royston Bassett. The photograph is mounted on card and has been autographed by the men below the photograph in order of as they are placed. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tamaki Paenga Hira. PH-1956-1. Permission to reproduce this image should be sought from Auckland War Memorial Museum and the copyright holder where applicable.

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Wars and conflicts

War: World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
Jayforce, 1945-1948 AWMM
Campaign: Greece AWMM
1941 AWMM Crete AWMM
North Africa AWMM
Minqar Qaim AWMM
Ruweisat Ridge AWMM
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Service number: 8077 AWMM
Military service: Territorials 5 years AWMM
Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers: —

Military decorations

Medals and Awards: Victoria Cross and bar (VC*) AWMM
VC. New Zealand Gazette 1941 No. 80 p. 1142. VC: Gazetted 14 October 1941, citation: "Between 22 and 30 May 1941 in Crete, Second Lieutenant Upham display oustanding leadership and courage in the very close-quarter fighting. He was blown up by one mortar shell and badly wounded by another. He was also wounded in the foot, but in spite of his wounds and a severe attack of dystentery, he refuse to to go hospital. He carried a wounded man back to safety when his company was forced to retire on 22 May and on 30 May he beat off an attack at Sphakia, 22 German falling to his short-range fire." - Register of the Victoria Cross, p. 319. VC bar: Gazetted 26 September 1945, citation: "On 14/15 July 1942 at El Ruweisat Ridge, Western Desert, Captain Upham, in spite of being twice wounded, insisted on remaining with his men. Just before dawn he led his company in a determined attack, capturing the objective after fierce fighting; he himself destroyed a German tank and several guns and vehicles with hand grenades. Although his arm had been broken by a machine-gun bullet, he continued to dominate the situation and when at last, weak from loss of blood, he had his wounds dressed, he immediately returned to his men, remaining with them until he was again severely wounded and unable to move." - Register of the Victoria Cross, p. 319. AWMM
1939-1945 Star AWMM
Defence Medal AWMM
War Medal 1939-1945 with oak leaf AWMM
New Zealand War Service Medal AWMM
Coronation Medal ER 1953 AWMM
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal AWMM

Training and Enlistment

Military training: —
Branch Trade Proficiency: —
Enlistment: WW2 18 Sep 1939 AWMM
Age 30 AWMM
Government land valuer/Civilian AWMM
Jayforce Unknown AWMM Land valuer/Civilian AWMM
Age on enlistment: —
Occupation before enlistment: —

Embarkations

Embarkation details: WW2 Sergeant AWMM 20 Infantry Battalion AWMM
Jayforce Captain/Military AWMM Infantry Reinforcements AWMM British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) Japan AWMM
2nd Embarkation AWMM

Prisoner of war

Capture details: WW2 POW - Mersa Matruh Hospital, Mersa Matruh, North Africa AWMM
15 Jul 1942-15 Apr 1945 AWMM
Defence of Ruweisat Ridge AWMM
WW2 POW - P.G. 47, Modena, Italy AWMM
WW2 POW - Stalag VIII-B (later 344), Lamsdorf, Poland AWMM
WW2 POW - Oflag IV-C, Colditz, Saxony, Germany AWMM
1944 AWMM
WW2
17 Jul 1942 AWMM
WW2 POW - Oflag V-A, Weinberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany AWMM
WW2 POW - P.G. 47, Modena, Italy AWMM
Days interned: —
Liberation date: —
POW liberation details: —
Liberation Repatriation: —
POW serial number: —

Medical history

Medical notes: Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWII AWMM
Wounded 22 May 1941 in shoulder by enemy mortar fire, Crete. AWMM
Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWII AWMM
Wounded 25 May 1941 in foot by enemy bullet, Crete. AWMM
Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWII AWMM
Wounded 27 June 1942 in both arms by his own grenades, Minqar Qaim. AWMM
Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWII AWMM
Wounded twice 14-15 July 1942 in arm and leg by enemy fire, Ruweisat Ridge. AWMM
Died of Disease, Cause of Death AWMM
Emphysema AWMM

Last known rank

Last rank: WW2 1 Nov 1945 AWMM Captain/Military AWMM
Last rank: —

Biographical information

Charles Upham was the son of John Hazlitt Upham, a lawyer, and his wife Agatha Mary Upham (nee Coates). He was the second of four children.

Attended Waihi School in South Canterbury and at Christs College in Christchurch.

He enrolled for a Diploma of Agriculture at Canterbury Agricultural College; now Lincoln University, graduating in 1930. He then worked as a Canterbury high country farm manager and musterer for six years before becoming a farm valuer. Having joined the Government Valuation Department he was attending a course in land valuation and farm management at Lincoln College when war was declared and he enlisted immediately.

Upham was 30 years old, and engaged, when he joined the 20th Battalion at Burnham camp under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger. While training in New Zealand, Upham was promoted to Lance Corporal, then Sergeant and in December 1939 embarked for Egypt with the 1st Echelon.

In Egypt Upham was selected for the Officer Cadet Training Unit where his rejection of what he thought were outdated and obsolete ideas meant he graduated bottom of his class! Being bottom of the officer list meant that Kippenberger could get his former NCO, now Second Lieutenant Upham, returned to the 20th Battalion where he took command of the West Coasters.

In early 1941, after a confused withdrawal of Allied soldiers from mainland Greece, some New Zealand Division units were taken to the island of Crete, Upham included. General Freyberg, Commander of the New Zealand Division, was ordered to defend Crete but his soldiers were inadequately armed. Upham played a major part in a number of fierce battles on Crete, including one battle during which he wiped out a group of German attackers threatening the evacuation of his fellow Kiwi soldiers. Despite the bravery of soldiers such as Upham, Crete was lost to the better-equipped Germans. Upham returned from Crete a walking skeleton due to dysentery and spent time in hospital recovering from the rigours of the campaign. Kippenberger meanwhile had recommended Upham for the Victoria Cross for his gallantry on Crete. Upham was genuinely distressed to be singled out for the award, believing that many others deserved it more than he did. Only by seeing it as a recognition of the bravery and service of his unit could Upham cope with the award and the unwanted fame that went with it.

In 1942 Upham was sent to Minqar Qaim in command of C Company. Under heavy German fire he continually encouraged his men and the Germans were beaten back without the Kiwis conceding any positions to the enemy. At one point they had been surrounded by the enemy, but Upham led a daring night time charge, hurling grenades and firing his pistol to break through the enemy encirclement. Kiwi casualties were light but the German Panzer Grenadier 1st Battalion was cut to pieces.

Despite small victories such as this, the Allied High Command began preparations to withdraw entirely from North Africa. The British 8th Army retreated to a final defensive position at El Alamein, Egypt. The New Zealand Division was ordered to capture Ruweisat Ridge, a small rise on an otherwise featureless landscape. After a confused battle, Upham decided to reconnoiter the position and stumbled directly into the enemy. After reporting back that the Kiwis had actually captured the ridge, Upham returned to his company to lead it in a frontal assault on the German positions. The company took heavy casualties, Upham among them, his left elbow being smashed by a machine-gun bullet. Upham refused to leave his men and was later hit in the leg by shrapnel, immobilising him. Along with 1000 other New Zealanders, Upham was taken prisoner during a German counter-attack on 15 July 1942.

Upham was sent to a makeshift hospital at Mersa Matruh, where he narrowly escaped having his arm amputated. He was then shipped to a POW camp at Modena in Italy. When Italy capitulated, the Germans rounded up the POWs, including Upham, and sent them north to Germany. Upham began to cause trouble for his captors, first attempting to escape by sawing through the floor of a truck with a sharpened kitchen knife. When this failed, he simply threw himself off the truck and ran for it. He was shortly recaptured and interned at the Weinsberg, Oflag VA Camp.

In Germany, Upham plagued his captors by taking every opportunity to escape, whether it be by tunnelling under or climbing over fences. The German guards even took a photo of Upham lighting a cigarette in a tangle of wire after one abortive escape attempt. The Germans used this evidence to have Upham shifted to the "escape-proof" Colditz Castle. While en route to Colditz, Upham flung himself from the speeding train and managed to avoid capture for twelve hours. The only New Zealand Division combatant to be sent to Colditz, Upham found life there more than frustrating, having to give up the idea of escaping as the POWs' Escape Committee refused to approve any ideas.

When the Americans arrived at Colditz on 15 April 1945, Upham was eager to rejoin the fight, but an order soon came through forbidding freed POWs to return to active service. Instead, he was sent to the UK, where he was reunited with his fiancee, Molly McTamney, who was serving as a nurse. In May, he attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace, where he finally received his first Victoria Cross from King George VI. On 20 June, Upham and McTamney were married at New Milton, Hampshire. They returned to New Zealand shortly thereafter.

In September 1945, Upham received word that he had been awarded a second Victoria Cross for his actions at Minqar Qaim and Ruweisat Ridge. Recommendations had been written out for two additional Victoria Crosses, but these had been combined into one award for Upham's extraordinary deeds in the Western Desert campaigns. He was only the third person ever to receive the Victoria Cross twice, and the very first combatant to do so.

Typically humble and shunning any celebrity status, Upham returned to civilian life as a farmer. He never acknowledged his hero status and always said that the soldiers under his command were the real heroes. He and his wife Molly raised three daughters and eventually retired to Christchurch in 1994. He died later that same year. Thousands of New Zealanders came to see his funeral procession and to pay their last respects to a great New Zealander.

His medals are held by the National Army Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand.

Upham is related through his maternal side to Captain Noel Chavasse (VC and Bar, WW1) AWMM

Sources

External links: Robinson, M. and Johnston, K. (2013, 25 April). Upham mystery doctor revealed. Last Post First Flight. Fairfax NZ News.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/last-post-first-light/8596802/Upham-mystery-doctor-revealed
Further Reference
National Archives of New Zealand, National Collection of War Art. Portrait.
http://warart.archives.govt.nz/node/94
Further Reference
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Published on Te Ara, The encyclopedia of New Zealand online.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5u2/upham-charles-hazlitt
Further Reference
Ministry for Culture and Heritage, NZ History online. Dunedin RSA building, formerly site of the VC winners' plaque.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/memorial/dunedin-rsa-war-memorial
Further Reference
Birkenhead (Auckland) Returned Services Association website. Victoria Cross.
http://www.birkenheadrsa.com/victoria-cross.html
Further Reference
Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R23523714
Sources Used
Wikidata Entity
http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1972477
Further Reference
Great Britain Army. (1945). Germany and German occupied territories : imperial prisoners of war alphabetical list : section 4. London, U.K.: Government Printer. Zenodo Record.
https://zenodo.org/records/3955186
Further Reference
Great Britain Army. (1945). Italy : imperial prisoners of war alphabetical list : section 4. London, U.K.: Government Printer. Zenodo Record.
https://zenodo.org/records/4560909
Further Reference
Pringle, D., & Glue, W. (1957). 20 Battalion and Armoured Regiment. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/webarchive/20210222122055/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-20Ba.html
Further Reference
J Force Wikipedia Page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Force
Further Reference
Romano, G. (2021, March 4). Jayforce: 75 years on. Auckland War Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira.
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/features/jayforce
Further Reference
References: Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 1 (Embarkations to 31st March, 1940). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
WW2 1: WW2 186
Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1950). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 16 (Embarkations from 1st January, 1946 to 30th June, 1948). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
WW2 16: WW2 136
The New Zealand Herald
Obituary: The New Zealand Herald, 23 November 1994
The Christchurch Press
Obituary: The Press, 23 November 1994
Cemetery Register: St Paul's, Riccarton, Christchurch, New Zealand
Armoury Cenotaph File
List of 2NZEF Prisoners of War. 1941-1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 2009/8.
Great Britain Army. (1945). Germany and German occupied territories : imperial prisoners of war alphabetical list : section 4. London, U.K.: Government Printer.
Pringle, D., & Glue, W. (1957). 20 Battalion and Armoured Regiment. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
Information kindly provided by family
Great Britain Army. (1945). Italy : imperial prisoners of war alphabetical list : section 4. London, U.K.: Government Printer.
Brocklebank, L.W. (1997). Jayforce : New Zealand and the military occupation of Japan, 1945-48. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford University Press.
Mason, W.W. (1954) Prisoners of war. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
Parr, A. (2012). The occupiers : New Zealand veterans remember post-war Japan. Auckland, N.Z. : Penguin.
McClymont, W. (1959). To Greece. Wellington, N.Z.: Department Internal Affairs, War History Branch.

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Charles Hazlitt Upham