VC soldier to visit Waiouru

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 531, 12 April 1994, Page 3

VC soldier to visit Waiouru

By

Michele

Monaghan

One person who still remembers New Zealand' s war dead is Captain (retd) Charles Upham VC and Bar. Mr Upham was twice awarded the Victoria Cross fighting in WWII. The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest gallantry award that can be given to a Commonwealth soldier. Mr Upham will be in Waiouru for the Anzac services which will include the laying of the foundation stone for the Kippenberger Pavilion at the Queen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum. The Kippenberger Pavilion is currently being built on the northern end of the museum complex. It is named after Sir Howard Kippenberger who was Commanding Officer of 20 Battalion (20 Bn) during WWII. Mr Upham also fought with 20 Bn. Mr Upham is the only double VC recipient still

alive in the world today. Three men were awarded the VC and Bar. Mr Upham was the only front line soldier with the other two double recipients were British medical officers. Five New Zealanders were awarded VC's during WWII. The only other survivor is Sergeant (retd) Jack Hinton. Mr Hinton fought as a sergeant in Mr Upham's Battalion and received his VC for a bayonet charge against the Germans. Mr Upham received one VC in Crete in 1941 and the other in North Africa in 1942. He became a prisoner of war in 1942 (Italy) and in 1944 was sent to the infamous Colditz castle in Saxony, Germany. "Kippenberger and Upham were very good friends," says Major Richard Taylor, Director of the Army Museum.