WAR DECORATIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24102, 22 October 1941, Page 9

WAR DECORATIONS

SOLDIEBS PROUD CELEBRATIONS IN DESERT MORE AWARDS PROBABLE (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) WESTERN DESERT, Oct. 18 ihe New Zealand rifle company, two of whose members have been awarded the Victoria Cross, one the Distinguished Conduct Medal and one the Greek Military Cross, is the West Coast-Blenheim-Marl borough section of the oldest South Island infantry unit. The men of the unit were proud enough when the earliest announcements of decorations were capped by SecondLieutenant Upliam's Victoria Cross, but the news of Sergeant Hinton's similar honour has left them justifiably up in the air. They are commencing immense celebrations, from which they are not expected to emerge for tliree days. There are still further recommendations to be decided.

The South island, of course, has further cause for pride in the fact that the third Victoria Cross was gained by Sergeant Hulme. Moreover, the citations, particularly concerning SecondLieutenant Upham and Sergeant Hulme, are regarded as extraordinary in that they set out a series of incidents every one of which is worthy of some decoration. The most staggering thing of all was that from the time his battalion was in Servia Pass, in Northern Greece, to the end of the Crete battle Second-Lieutenant Upham suffered from severe illness. By all the rules he should have been classified as unfit for service, but he refused to leave the front line. In Crete he could not eat "bully" and biscuits, which were our staple diet. Instead his men fed him on tinned milk whenever they were able to obtain it. Modest Victoria Cross Winner

"He came out of Crete like a walking skeleton," said his commander. "The only thing that kept him going was his indomitable will."

Second-Lieutenant Upham's creed seems to be that a soldier's job is never done until he dies. He saw so little unusual in his own exploits that the account forming the citation had to be pieced gradually and painstakingly together. He was genuinely distressed at being singled out for distinction, and he will always regard his Victoria Cross only as something he holds in trust for his battalion.

He says: "It was the men ot the battalion, not myself, who won it. I have been fortunate in having the best of commanders above me and the best of non-commissioned officers and men around me. Right through the division the New Zealanders' morale is the highest in the army, and nothing could stop them. It is very easy to do any job under those circumstances." Radio listeners will shortly hear Second-Lieutenant Upham speak, and they may accept as typical of him the way he quickly changes the subject from the decoration to a plea for comforts for our captured and wounded, and aid to the Greeks after the war, and his final: "I would like the Government to know it is impossible to send too much tobacco to our troops here." Sergeant Hinton's Defiance

Little was known here of the glorious act of defiance which won bergeant Hinton fame. He had been cut off from the battalion during the last stages of the withdrawal from Greece and later was reported captured, but the story of his classic "To hell with this," and his refusal to accept defeat, reached the authorities through British Armv channels. The War Office verified it and gave the West Coast company the thrilling surprise of a second Victoria Cross. Sergeant Kirk, who received the Distinguished Conduct Medal in a recent list of immediate awards, fought with Second-Lieutenant Upham as a member of his platoon. Their original compi.nv commander was Major Lliti \\ 11son," who won the Greek Military Cross posthumously. After a distinguished career commanding a. Greek battalion in Crete, he died while blazing a path through encircling German troops with a Bren gun, firing from the hip. The Germans so respected him that they gave orders to bury him apart from the rest.