Nine NZ VC's stolen from museum

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Larso
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Nine NZ VC's stolen from museum

#1

Post by Larso » 03 Dec 2007, 05:24

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Rare war medals, including nine Victoria Crosses, have been stolen from New Zealand's national war museum in a theft described by Prime Minister Helen Clark as a "crime against the nation." The haul included medals awarded to New Zealand's most celebrated war hero, World War Two Captain Charles Upham, one of only three men to have won two VCs, the highest award for bravery among Commonwealth nations.


"The men who earned those medals performed outstanding acts of heroism and to think that someone would specifically target them for a theft like that appalls everybody," Clark told Television New Zealand on Monday.


About 100 medals were stolen, including nine Victoria Crosses, two George Crosses and one Albert Medal, with a value of about NZ$10 million ($7.5 million), according to a local expert.


The medals were taken in the early hours of Sunday morning from the museum on the outskirts of the small town of Waiouru, in the centre of New Zealand's North Island.


The thieves smashed two display cases and fled within minutes after triggering alarms, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.


Police said it would be difficult to sell the medals on the open market. "You can't help but wonder if it's someone who's hatched half a good idea but is now wondering what they're going to do with what they've got," said Inspector Steve Mastrovich.


However, Clark said she was concerned the medals may have been stolen to order for a reclusive wealthy collector.


How I wish Upham and the others had been 'manning' this 'post' when these dirtbags came calling. It's hard to imagine how such an outrage could be committed against the memories of such honourable men. I hope the police solve this one quickly.

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John G.
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#2

Post by John G. » 03 Dec 2007, 17:16

Horrible, saddening story that proves two things......first, that there is a criminal element within the "collecting" world that will do anything either for profit or for acquisition........and secondly, sounds like pretty poor security on what should have been considered the "National Treasure" of NZ. I'll keep my eyes open for Victoria Crosses here in Maine (don't mean to joke...)
I think anyone who was, is, or becomes involved in this robbery deserves no mercy or pity. I've been robbed more than once and it can be devastating.....and I'm talking "small potatoes" compared to this kind of stuff.....terrible that anyone would stupe so low....
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(I will admit everytime I've stopped by the West Point Museum I have "imagined" how nice it would be to have Goering's Reichsmarshall's Baton and a few other choice items in my collection and how much more I'd appreciate them than "they" do....but I'd never really steal them.....just one of my non-sexual fantasies.....)


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oRion
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#3

Post by oRion » 03 Dec 2007, 21:50

Horrible. People can do anything for money, but to steal medals of a war hero is something that leads you to lot of thinking...i just hope that those criminals are going to be punished not just for robbery.

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pzrwest
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#4

Post by pzrwest » 03 Dec 2007, 22:46

I hope they post a list of the receipients names of the VC's as every VC is has the awardee's name on them. With a list of names they would almost be impossible to sell on the open market. All in all it's pretty low to do something like this.

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Mark in Cleveland, Tn.
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#5

Post by Mark in Cleveland, Tn. » 05 Dec 2007, 00:44

Larso,
Do you have any history of the Upham 2 awards.?
The incidents for the 2 awards...

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#6

Post by Larso » 05 Dec 2007, 07:49

I'll get the details for Upham's medals later. The one thing I recall was that two seperate incidents were rolled together and there was in fact a strong argument for him being awarded a third VC!

I read today that Lord Ashcroft, who owns the worlds largest collect of VCs, has offered a reward of NZ$200,000 for their return. The NZ govt hasn't accepted it yet but I suppose investigations are in the very early stages and they don't know what help is needed. It would also seem appropriate for New Zealand to put up the reward itself (Ashcroft, I'm fairly sure is British).

Larso
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#7

Post by Larso » 05 Dec 2007, 11:45

How papers can get things wrong. The article about Ashcroft mentioned he owned 40 VC's - that struck me as wrong. Another reference just now talks about him owning about a tenth of all the VC's issued - which is closer to the mark of 150 ish that I had thought.

Another article mentioned that NZ police had identified the thieves from security video. Lets hope something comes of that.

As for Upham, I couldn't find a decent reference in any of my books so I popped onto the web, I've summarised his exploits I found there with what I can remember from the book about him I read a few years ago.

First VC - Crete May 1941 In a fairly dire situation Upham killed 22 Germans, most from a position on a ridge where he snipped a lot of them as they were trying to overrun the NZ position. Two though were the result of his being hit, playing dead and killing them as they approached. One evidently was close enough he fell across Upham's rifle.

Second VC - El Alamain (Ruweisat Ridge) Upham led several fierce attacks destroying a number of German positions and a tank personally. One story I recall from the book was about him running everywhere with a bag of grenades blowing up everything, including a truck full of Germans. He was so close to the action he suffered shrapnel wounds from his own grenades. He was though injured and later captured when NZ positions were overrun. He tried to escape captivity several times and evidently, when liberated, grabbed a gun and went looking for more Germans! The one part that did stand out was his decision when in the German field hospital to refuse to have his arm amputated, as all the Germans who received this treatment promptly died. He had pain but reasonable function of the limb after the war.

Possible Third VC - this occurred in the battle before Ruweisat. He penetrated well behind Italian lines on a recon. I can't remember whether he killed anyone but there was one point where his car/jeep got bogged and he ordered nearby Italian troops to give him a push - and they did! He was going to be written up for this action but his capture messed everything up. Later, the two were combined. Approving a second VC was almost unprecedented, going for a third might have caused both to be thrown out (I think so at least). The second was only awarded after the war, not announced by a German officer while he was in prison camp as is sometimes suggested.

He was fiercly modest and much of the book about him was written with only his limited co-operation. So it seemed that most of the info in it came from witnesses. There is apparently a movie being made about him currently.

Maybe some of the New Zealanders can tell us more?

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Peter H
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#8

Post by Peter H » 11 Dec 2007, 14:03

An off topic post on another militaria theft crime in 1999 in the US has been removed.

Let's keep on topic,the NZ VC theft.


The stolen VCs and their recipients:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4307013a11.html


* Corporal Leslie Wilton Andrew, 1917, for the great skill and determination he displayed in attacks on two machine gun posts at La Basses-Ville in France;

* Lance-Corporal Samuel Frickleton, 1917, won for a grenade attack during the assault on Messines in Belgium during which he destroyed two machine gun posts;

* Sergeant John Gilroy Grant, 1918, for rushing a nest of enemy machine gun posts and personally capturing two of them, near Bancourt in France;

* Sergeant Reginald Stanley Judson, 1918, destroyed four German machine gun posts and then attacked a fifth, killing two of its crew and causing the rest to flee, during battle at Bapaume in France;

* Sergeant Harry John Laurent, 1918, led a party that killed 30 of the 142 at an enemy post at Gouzeacourt Wood in France in hand-to-hand fighting;

* Sergeant John Daniel Hinton, 1941, attacked a German armoured column threatening allied troops waiting to leave Kalamai beach in Greece;

* Sergeant Clive Alfred Hulme, 1941, sought out snipers, destroyed German strongholds and took out a mortar crew during battles for Maleme airport on Crete;

* Second Lieutenant Charles Hazlitt Upham, 1941-42, the only combatant to win the VC and bar in the history of the award, for showing "coolness, great skill and dash" in a series of battles during which he was twice wounded;

* Sergeant Keith Elliott, 1942, wounded he led his company during fighting on the Ruweisat ridge that led to five machine guns and one anti-tank gun being destroyed with 130 prisoners captured;

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#9

Post by JonS » 12 Dec 2007, 09:15

Upham maintained his animosity towards all things German for a long time. Several drivers of German marques found themselves hurrying off his farm back in NZ with newly drilled ventilation holes in their cars, each about .303 inches across ;)

When he got back to NZ after the war, the Cantabrians had had a whip-round and raised enough money to buy him a farm. He declined, and took out a loan like all the other returned servicemen. The money raised was put towards an educational scholarship for children of ex-servicemen.

Edit: sketch below is by Peter McIntyre, and is taken from his book "War Artist"
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upham.jpg
upham.jpg (161.44 KiB) Viewed 1972 times

JonS
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Re: Nine NZ VC's stolen from museum

#10

Post by JonS » 27 Jun 2008, 06:02


JonS
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Re: Nine NZ VC's stolen from museum

#11

Post by JonS » 15 Oct 2008, 01:52

Another update


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Re: Nine NZ VC's stolen from museum

#13

Post by JonS » 20 Oct 2008, 23:05


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