'Britain at War' Magazine,PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1NA| [email protected]
FIELD POST
Our Letter of the
Month is sponsored by
Pen & Sword Books[email protected]@britainatwar.comOur Letter of the Our Letter of the
Month is sponsored byMonth is sponsored by
Pen & Sword BooksPen & Sword Books58 http://www.britainatwar.comThe author of the Letter of the Month will recieve a book of the Editor's choosing up to the value of
£25. For more information on our sponsor's range of titles, see http://www.pen-and-sword.co.ukLETTER OF THE MONTH
VC Gallantry at Varsity
ABOVE Wessex HC 2 XS678 of 72 Sqn in SOAF markings at Salalah in 1974.
(VIA DICK WILLIAMS)Dear Editor,
Readers of my article, Hell,
In A Very Small Place, on 1st
Canadian Parachute Battalion
during Operation Varsity (May
issue) may be interested to
know that three top military
honours were award to
airborne participants.
George Peters and Stuart
Stryker received posthumous
medals of honour, and one
Canadian, Toronto-born
Corporal Frederick George
Topham, was awarded the
Victoria Cross. He was just
27 at the time of his gallant
feat on March 24, 1945 and
was the only member of 1st
Canadian Parachute Battalion- or for that matter all of
6th Airborne Division – to
receive the Victoria Cross during
the Second World War. During the
battle, Topham, a medical orderly,
along with several others heard a
cry for help emanating from the
fire-swept zone. Two medics moved
forward to rescue the wounded
man, but were quickly killed. On
his own initiative and without
hesitation, Topham braved the fire
to assist the wounded paratrooper
even though he had seen two
orderlies slain before him. Later,
he stated: “I only did what every
last man in my outfit would do.”
As he treated the soldier,
Topham was shot through the
nose. Bleeding profusely and in
great pain, he completed first
aid and then carried the man
through the hail of fire to cover.
For two hours Topham refused
medical attention and continued to
evacuate casualties with complete
disregard for the heavy and
accurate fire. “I didn’t have time to
think about it,” he later explained,
“I was too busy.”receive the Victoria Cross during
the Second World War. During theVC Gallantry at Varsity
Dear Editor,
Readers of my article,
In A Very Small Place
Canadian Parachute Battalion
during Operation Varsity (May
issue) may be interested to
know that three top military
honours were award to
airborne participants.Stryker received posthumous
medals of honour, and one
Canadian, Toronto-born
Corporal Frederick George
Topham, was awarded the
Victoria Cross. He was just
27 at the time of his gallant
feat on March 24, 1945 and
was the only member of 1st
Canadian Parachute Battalion- or for that matter all of
6th Airborne Division – to
ABOVE Corporal Frederick George
Topham VC. (AIRBORNE ASSAULT
MUSEUM, DUXFORD)
It was not until all the wounded
had been evacuated, that he
consented to being treated. His
evacuation was ordered, but
Topham pleaded with such vigour
that he was allowed to return to
duty. On his way back, Topham
came across a laden Universal
Carrier that had received a hit
and was burning fiercely. In spite
of falling shells and the exploding
cargo of mortar rounds – and
against the direction of a nearby
officer – Topham rescued the
three occupants.
Corporal Topham’s valour was
unrivalled. “For six hours,” read
his commendation, “most of the
time in great pain, he performed
a series of acts of outstanding
bravery, and his magnificent and
selfless courage inspired all those
who witnessed it.”
Dr Bernd Horn
By EmailDear Editor,
I was an airman, a wireless
electrical mechanic (WEM), with
No.73 (F) Squadron in France
from September 1939 until
June 1940, so I was pleased to
find the article on Cobber Kain
in the April issue. I was also
pleased to see his claims listed
as they give an indication of
the great number of sorties he
flew and the many dangerous
situations he escaped from.
He was an experienced
aerobatic pilot and had
demonstrated this at Hendon
in 1934. While in France he had
been greatly impressed by a
display carried out by a Czech
pilot which included ‘flick’ rolls
and had been practising them
himself. At that time he was
flying a Hurricane with a Rotol
variable pitch propeller. TheServing with ‘Cobber’ Kain
ABOVE Cobber Kain, in roll-neck
jumper, chats with fellow pilots of
73 Squadron having just landed at
Reims-Champagne in the spring
of 1940. (VIA GRAHAM PITCHFORK)aircraft he was flying home to
England was a very old one,
with a two-bladed wooden
fixed pitch prop. [It never made
it home, and the 21-year-old
fighter ace was killed when it
crashed en route.]
With regard to the incident at
Calais, when the French ‘ack-
ack’ shot the prop off one of our
Hurricanes, the unfortunate pilot
was not Cobber, but was D W
(Bill) Kain. He was another New
Zealander, but was not related
to Cobber. He force-landed on
a beach near Calais and was
unhurt. The aircraft, however,
was submerged by the incoming
tide, and was a write-off.
It was only ten days after
Cobber’s death that we found
ourselves, together with all the
other squadrons and BEF [British
Expeditionary Force] units, beingevacuated back to England, and on
June 17 came the tragedy of the
sinking of the Lancastria.
Sqn Ldr R L Armstrong
Sittingbourne, Kent