Mark of the Lion

Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham VC & Bar (21 September 1908 – 22 November 1994) was a New Zealand soldier who earned the Victoria Cross twice during the Second World War: in Crete in May 1941, and at Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in July 1942.

He was only the third person to receive the VC twice, the only person to receive two VCs during the Second World War and the only combat soldier to receive the award twice. As a result, Upham is often described as the most highly decorated Commonwealth soldier of that war, as the VC is the Commonwealth’s highest award for extreme gallantry in the face of the enemy.