Jack I - Charles Upham

Charles Upham
Completed by Jack Illing
Term 2 Week 3-5

What does it mean to be FAMOUS
I think that famous is someone that did something extraordinary or is good at what they do. If I wanted to be famous I would be New Zealand’s greatest farmer or I would discover something that made a cow produce more milk. Sir Edmund Hillary discovered that he could climb MT Everest and come back alive and that you can drive a tractor across the south pole.

Famous New Zealanders
1. Charles Upham 9. Burt Munro
2. Peter Jackson 10. John Britten
3. Sir Edmund Hillary 11. Kate Sheppard
4. Robert Muldoon 12. Richard Hadley
5. Jonah Lomu
6. Kiri Te Kanawa
7. Ernest Rutherford
8. Sam Neil

Charles Upham
*Who was Charles Upham and what was he famous for?
Charles Hazlitt Upham is New Zealands most famous solider. He became one of the only three people ever to win the Victoria Cross twice. He is the only person done this as a combat solider. It is awarded for exceptional braver in the face of the enemy.
*What characteristics made him a good solider?
Charles Upham was known for combining controlled courage and quick-thinking resourcefulness. He had good leadership skills and was heroic.
He was fiercely loyal to his comrades and didn’t like being the center of attention. He didn’t feel like he deserved to be singled out for a Victoria Cross.

*what is an example of the type of actions he took?
One incident that shows Charles Upham’s courage was when two German soldiers trapped him alone on the fringed of an olive grove. He was one his way to warning other troops that they were being cut off, was watched by his helpless platoon, who were some distance away. With any movement potentially fatal, he pretended to be dead and waited for the enemy soldiers to approach. With one arm lame in a sling, he used the crook of a tree to support his rifle and shoot the first German, then reloaded with one hand, and shot the second, who was so close he fell against the barrel, of Upham’s rifle.

What did he receive his V.Cs for?
He earned the VC for outstanding gallantry and leadership in may 1941, and his Bar at Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt in July 1942.
In march 1941, he was a Second Lieutenant in the 20th NZ Battalion in Crete. His display of courage included, destroying numerous enemy posts , rescuing a wounded man under fire, penetrating deep behind enemy lines and killing twenty two German soldiers on the way to leading out an isolated platoon. He did this all after being blown over by a mortar shell, with a shrapnel wound in his soldier and a bullet in his foot.
In July 1942, Charles Upham was now a Captain. The NZ Division who stranded at Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt after promised armored support failed to come through. As the allies tried to hold the line, Upham led his company on what was a savage attack on German and Italian strongpoint. He was personally responsible for destroying a German tank and several guns and vehicles with hand grenades, and even though he was shot through the elbow with a machine gun bullet and had his shattered went on again and brought back a number of his men who had become isolated.
He had his wounds dressed and immediately returned to his men. He consolidated and held his position even though he was exhausted and severely wounded, until he was overrun by enemy forces and captured.

What happened after he was captured?
Doctors tried to convince him to have his arm amputated, he refused. A British doctor who was also a prisoner set his arm.
After this he was sent to prisoner-of-war camps in Italy and Germany. He was a troublesome prisoner who often attempted to escape. The first time he jumped off a truck just after it went over a bridge, he was fired at, eventually he was found and dragged back.
In another attempt he leapt from the toilet window of a moving train in the middle of the night. He was caught 12 hours later.
After this last attempt he was transferred to Colditz Castle were he spent the rest of the war with other “dangerous” prisoners until April 1945

*what lifestyle did he lead after the war?
After the war he returned to farming in Canterbury. He got married and had three daughters. It has been said that for the remainder of his life, Upham would allow no German car on his property. It is said that he even shot one!

Well done Jack, this is very interesting and informative. He was certainly a very courageous New Zealander. The next step that I would like to see is some personal voice in your responses. What you think and reasons why.

Jack I - Charles Upham

by r2teach on Jun 11, 2011

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Jack I - Charles Upham — Presentation Transcript