Wow! Rare company indeed! In the States we don't hear much about coalition force activity, other than that there was an action and X people were killed and wounded. Generally what seems to happen is that coalition forces whistle up the Apaches and then "civilians" get killed. In any case, Trooper Donaldson, walks in some very select company. Congratulations. to him and to his country.
Peter.

Oddly enough, a New Zealand SAS soldier, Cororal Apiata, was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2008, in a similar incident.

" It was 3.15am one morning in Afghanistan in 2004 when a troop of SAS soldiers came under fire from 20 enemy fighters with machine and rocket propelled grenades. Apiata was blown off the bonnet of his vehicle in the attack and one of colleagues was seriously injured. Apiata picked up his colleague and carried him 70 metres in what was described as broken, rocky and fire-swept ground under heavy fire. He placed his colleague into safety and then joined the counter attack.
The government says Corporal Apiata showed little regard for his own life when he saved his colleague who would certainly have died from loss of blood otherwise."

Reading about the VC in the link, I learned that a second award of the VC is indicated by a bar. Given the incredible circumstances upon which a VC is awarded, have there been any/many awards of a second?? Stories?? Kudude

One New Zealander has been awared V.C and Bar.

Charles Upham V.C and Bar.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/me.../charles-upham-crete

The actual citations for Upham are ,
8077 Second-Lieutenant Charles Hazlett Upham
During the operations in Crete this officer performed a series of remarkable exploits, showing outstanding leadership, tactical skill and utter indifference to danger. He commanded a forward platoon in the attack on maleme on May 22 and fought his way forward for over 3000 yards unsupported by any other arms and against a defence strongly organised in depth. During this operation his platoon destroyed numerous enemy posts but on three occasions sections were temporarily held up.
In the first case, under a heavy fire from an MG nest he advanced to close quarters with pistol and grenades, so demoralizing the occupants that his section was able to ‘mop up’ with ease. Another of his sections was then held up by two MGs in a house. He went in and placed a grenade through a window, destroying the crew of one MG and several others, the other MG being silenced by the fire of his sections. In the third case he crawled to within 15 yards of an MG post and killed the gunners with a grenade.
When his Company withdrew from maleme he helped to carry a wounded man out under fire, and together with another officer rallied more men together to carry other wounded men out. He was then sent to bring in a company which had become isolated. With a corporal he went through enemy territory over 600 yards, killing two Germans on the way, found the company, and brought it back to the Battalion's new position. But for this action it would have been completely cut off.
During the following two days his platoon occupied an exposed position on forward slopes and was continuously under fire. 2/Lieut. Upham was blown over by one mortar shell and painfully wounded by a piece of shrapnel behind the left shoulder by another. He disregarded this wound and remained on duty. He also received a bullet in the foot which he later removed in Egypt. At Galatos on May 25 his platoon was heavily engaged when troops in front gave way and came under severe Mortar and MG fire. While his platoon stopped under cover of a ridge 2/Lieut. Upham went forward, observed the enemy and brought the platoon forward when the Germans advanced. They killed over 40 with fire and grenades and forced the remainder to fall back.
When his platoon was ordered to retire he sent it back under the platoon Sjt and he went back to warn other troops that they were being cut off. When he came out himself he was fired on by two Germans. He fell and shammed dead, then crawled into a position and having the use of only one arm he rested his rifle in the fork of a tree and as the Germans came forward he killed them both. The second to fall actually hit the muzzle of the rifle as he fell.
On 30th May at Sphakia his platoon was ordered to deal with a party of the enemy which had advanced down a ravine to near Force Headquarters. Though in an exhausted condition he climbed the steep hill to the west of the ravine, placed his men in positions on the slope overlooking the ravine and himself went to the top with a Bren Gun and two riflemen. By clever tactics he induced the enemy party to expose itself and then at a range of 500 yards shot 22 and caused the remainder to disperse in panic.
During the whole of the operations he suffered from diarrhoea and was able to eat very little, in addition to being wounded and bruised. He showed superb coolness, great skill and dash and complete disregard of danger. His conduct and leadership inspired his whole platoon to fight magnificiently throughout, and in fact was an inspiration to the battalion.
Bar to Victoria Cross
From Jun 27 to Jul 15 Capt Upham performed five acts of conspicuous gallantry. He was with his Company during all the fighting that took place during this period though he was wounded on three different occasions—on the night Jun 27/28; on the night Jul 14/15 and again on the afternoon Jul 15. On the first two occasions he rejoined his Company as soon as his wounds were dressed and after the third occasion, when he could no longer walk, he was taken prisoner of war. He showed fine leadership at all times and under his command his Company earned a remarkable reputation in attack. Capt Upham's complete indifference to danger and his personal bravery has become a byword in the whole of the NZEF.
Jun 27th: During the afternoon, when the Germans attacked the NZ positions at Minquar Quaim, the enemy made several attempts to clear a path for their tanks through our minefield. One forward section post of Capt Upham's Coy was occupying an important position on the edge of the minefield, and it was very heavily shelled and machine-gunned. Capt Upham walked forward over the ground that had no cover of any sort and which was swept by enemy fire, stayed with this section for a short period and came away only when he had assured himself that it could carry on and hold its ground.
Night Jun 27/28: During the night when the NZ Div broke through the Germans at Minquar Quaim, Capt Upham led his men in inspiring fashion and his Coy overcame several enemy posts. The attack took place in very bright moonlight and at one stage a truck full of German soldiers was seen moving slowly through the soft sand. Capt Upham and a Corporal ran forward together, and in spite of heavy Tommy Gun fire from the Germans they reached the side of the truck and with hand grenades wiped out the entire truck load and left the truck in flames. Not one German left the burning vehicle. Capt Upham was slightly wounded in both arms from the explosions of his own grenades. He did not report to get his wounds treated until the following night when the Div was back in new positions, and he then rejoined his Coy.
Night Jul 14/15: During the attack on el ruweisat ridge Capt Upham's Coy was part of the reserve battalion which, during the six miles advance, was about two miles behind the leading battalions. Wireless communication had broken down and Capt Upham was instructed to send forward an officer in a ‘jeep’ to contact the forward battalions and bring back information. He went himself instead and after being fired on by an enemy post, procured a Spandau gun and set it up in the car. He had several further encounters with enemy posts but by operating the gun himself while the driver of the ‘jeep’ drove through anything in their path, he contacted the forward troops and brought back the necessary information.
Just before dawn, when the reserve battalions and the anti-tank guns were almost on to their objective, very heavy fire was encountered from a strongly defended enemy locality. There were four machine-gun posts and about five tanks. Capt Upham's Coy was the leading Coy and he quickly directed the attack on the two nearest MG's, which were using tracer builets. He personally led the attack on one post which was silenced and the enemy bayonetted. During the attack Capt Upham was shot in the elbow by a machine-gun bullet and his arm broken. He stayed with his men until the objective was captured and until positions were consolidated. He then reported to the RAP and then, with his arm in splints, went back to his Coy and stayed with it all day under the most trying conditions of heavy enemy artillery and mortar fire. The enemy made a strong counter-attack late in the afternoon, and Capt Upham was again wounded by mortar fire. He was no longer able to walk.
Capt Upham was taken prisoner of war on 15 Jul 42.

I am especially glad to see that it was NOT awarded posthumously!

Good on him and our allies!

Ditto's on that CIPNR.

i lost count of how many times this guy was wounded. absolutely amazing that he lived through it all.

He escaped a few times from his POW camp and finished the war, confined in Colditz - the German "Escape proof" castle.

A good picture is here,
http://kotare.typepad.com/thes...egist/charles_upham/

quote:

Originally posted by C1PNR:
I am especially glad to see that it was NOT awarded posthumously!

Good on him and our allies!

I'm glad, too, that Trooper Donaldson will be around to find out his beer money is no good in a lot of places in the states. Should he choose to visit.

As an aside, there's no reason why more MoHs couldn't be given for some of the actions of US servicemen. So far, 3 of the 5 in the WOT have been given for diving on a grenade (Dunham USMC, Monsoor USN, and McGinnis USA). The other two have been given to men who deliberately exposed themselves to fire continuously until shot dead, for reasons that were very urgent at the time (SFC Smith USA and LT Murphy USN). But getting killed isn't an eligibility requirement for the MoH. There have been a number of Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, and Air Force Cross awards that have our own living MoH awardees scratching their heads, wondering why they got an MoH in WWII or Korea, and these guys didn't in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In fact, if you go back to Somalia and Gordon and Shugart, there have been no MoHs awarded since Vietnam unless the man chose to face certain death in order to buy time for their comrades. Certainly these men deserved the MoH, but that isn't the standard.

That said, I'm awed by Trooper Donaldson's incredible bravery and devotion to duty.