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Rene Shadbolt

René Shadbolt led the only New Zealand contingent to the Spanish Civil War. She and fellow nurse, Isobel Dodds, cared for wounded soldiers, particularly those from the International Brigades, from July 1937 to November 1938.

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Today in History

11 May

1945 Upham presented with VC

New Zealand's most-decorated soldier was recognised for outstanding gallantry and leadership in Crete in 1941 and Egypt in 1942. He remains the only combat soldier ever to be awarded a Bar to his Victoria Cross − the highest British decoration awarded to members of the New Zealand armed forces for valour while on active service. There have been 22 New Zealand VC winners.

Christchurch-born Charles Upham, who volunteered for service at the outbreak of war, symbolised what many saw as the essential qualities of ‘the typical New Zealand soldier'. He developed these qualities as a musterer in the Canterbury high country, where men had ‘to match the ruggedness of nature with their own ruggedness of physique and temperament'. The rigours of rural life, as typified by Upham were, apparently, the secret of New Zealanders' success in war.

He was fiercely loyal to his comrades and shunned the limelight. When informed of his first VC he was genuinely distressed at being singled out. He believed that others deserved it more than he did. Only by seeing it as recognition of the bravery and service of his unit could Upham accept the award and the unwanted attention that went with it.

Upham earned the VC for outstanding gallantry and leadership in Crete in May 1941, and his Bar at Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in July 1942. After being severely wounded in the latter engagement, Upham was captured by the Germans. After a failed escape attempt while recuperating in an Italian hospital, he was transferred to Germany in September 1943. A particularly audacious solo attempt to scale his camp's barbed-wire fences in broad daylight saw Upham become the only New Zealand combatant officer sent to the infamous Colditz camp for habitual escapers in 1944.

When the recommendation was made for a second VC in 1945, King George VI said to Major-General Howard Kippenberger that a Bar to the cross would be ‘very unusual indeed'. He inquired, ‘Does he deserve it?' − to which Kippenberger replied, ‘In my respectful opinion sir Upham won the VC several times over'. Upham was presented with his VC at Buckingham Palace on 11 May 1945.