20th Battalion (New Zealand)
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The 20th Battalion was a formation of the New Zealand Military Forces which served, initially as an infantry battalion and then as an armoured regiment, during the Second World War as part of the 2nd
Infantry of the 20th Battalion in Baggush, Egypt, September 1941
A crashed German glider on Crete
Lieutenant Colonel Howard Karl Kippenberger (left), who was the commanding officer of the 20th Battalion from its formation until late 1941, with Lieutenant Charles Hazlitt Upham, Egypt, October/November 1941
An ambulance damaged by a shell during the breakout at Minqar Qaim
Charles Upham
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Charles Hazlitt Upham was a New Zealand soldier during the Second World War. He is one of three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice and the only fighting combatant to be so honoured, the other
20th Battalion (New Zealand)
…The counterattack resulted in heavy casualties, although not as high as the Germans' own losses. It also resulted in an award of a VC to Lieutenant Charles Upham for his actions during the attack on Maleme airfield. When Galatas fell to the Germans on 25 May, the 20th Battalion was in danger of being cut off…
Charles Upham in NZ field uniform c.1941
Upham in 1929
Claude Auchinleck presents VC ribbon to Upham, 4 November 1941
Upham being congratulated by his platoon sergeant after the presentation of the Victoria Cross in November 1941