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1The Man Who Won 2 Victoria Crosses

The Victoria Cross is the ultimate award for bravery in the British and Commonwealth armies. It has been awarded 1,357 times since its inception, and only three people have ever received more than one of them.

Captain Charles Upham was the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice in World War II. He volunteered for the New Zealand army in 1939 and was commissioned the following year. He won his first Victoria Cross in May 1941, during the German invasion of the island. He led his platoon in an attack on heavily defended positions 2.7 kilometers (1.7 mi) away. During the attack, he destroyed two machine gun nests and an anti-aircraft gun with grenades. He then helped carry a wounded man away from the fighting and rescued a surrounded New Zealand company. On May 30, he led his men on a flank to attack a group of advancing Germans, killing 22 of them with a Bren machine gun.

His second Victoria Cross was awarded the next year on July 25, during the first battle of El Alamein. During the defense of the Ruweisat Ridge, he ran forward through a hail of machine gun fire to lob a grenade into a truck full of German soldiers. He then drove through the enemy lines in a Jeep mounted with a German machine gun, convincing Italian soldiers to push him out of soft sand. During a bayonet charge, he was shot in the elbow and sustained a broken arm. By now, the Germans had surrounded the New Zealanders, but Upham kept on fighting until he couldn’t walk.

Upham was always quiet about his bravery, telling a reporter in September 1945, “Naturally, I feel some pride in this distinction, but hundreds of others have done more than I did.” He led a quiet life after the war, resenting publicity and dying at age 86 in November 1994.