Victoria Cross

The Battle of Rorke’s Drift

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The 1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift is one of the most celebrated, and smallest battles in British history. It occurred in 18179 during the Zulu War in South Africa at the Mission and Supply Station of Rorke’s Drift. During the battle, some 179 British soldiers held off and defeated a force of over 4,500 Zulu warriors winning a eleven VC’s in the process. The Battle itself occurred around Rorke’s Drift, a British mission station that had been converted to a logistics base and hospital by the British Army, it is located on the border between Natal Province in the colony of South Africa and Zululand. The battle occurred on the … More after the Jump…

Heroe’s Portraits: Captain Noel Chavasse

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Cpt. Noel Chevasse is one of the three men who have earned the Victoria Cross twice. He was a doctor and earned both awards during the First World War. He won the first VC during the battle of the Somme when his battalion was ordered to attack the village of Guillemont. His battalion, (10th Battalion, Liverpool Regiment) suffered almost 300 casualties out of 600 men and he spent the entire day and night of the attack constantly moving inot no-man’s-land to tend to and recover the wounded while at the same time recovering identity disks from the dead who he could not bring back to friendly lines. His citation read: … More after the Jump…

Heroe’s Portraits: Captain Charles Upham.

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Captain Charles Upham is one of the three men who were awarded the Victoria Cross twice.   Both his awards were won during World War II, the first in the Battle for Crete in 1941 and the second at the Battle of El Alamein in 1942.   He was captured in the action that earned him the second VC and spent the remainder of the war as POW in Colditz prison.   He retired to New Zealand after the war and bought a farm.   He died in 1994 at the age of 86 in a Christchurch, New Zealand.   His VC and Bar are on display at the Queen … More after the Jump…

Heroe’s Portraits: Surgeon Captain Arthur Martin-Leake

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Double VC holder: Surgeon Captain Arthur Martin-Leake

Surgeon Captain Arthur Martin-Leake is a two-time winner of the Victoria Cross.   He is one of only three men who have won the VC twice, and two of the double winners were medical men.   He won his first VC in 1902 during the Boer War in South Africa when he treated 8 wounded men in full view of the enemy and remained at his position providing them treatment despite being shot three times himself.   He recieved his second award in World War I during First Ypres for continually exposing himself to enemy fire to retrieve wounded men forward of the British trenches.   He survived the First World War and died in 1953.   He is buried at High Cross in Hertfordshire, England.

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