Robert Henry Cain

Major Robert Henry Cain VC (2 January 1909 - 2 May 1974) was a Manx recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Details

He was 35 years old, and a temporary Major in The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, British Army, attd. The South Staffordshire Regiment during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.LondonGazette
issue=36774
linkeddate=1944-11-02
startpage=5015
endpage=5016
supp=y
accessdate=2008-07-17]

During the Battle of Arnhem from 17 September to 25 September 1944, Major Cain's company was cut off from the battalion and throughout the whole of this time was closely engaged with enemy tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry. The Major was everywhere danger threatened, moving among his men and encouraging them to hold out. By his leadership he not only stopped but demoralized the enemy attacks and although he was suffering from a perforated ear-drum and multiple wounds, he refused medical attention.

After Arnhem, he oversaw the German surrender in Norway.

Biography

Robert Cain was born of Manx parents in Shanghai, China, on the 2 January 1909. He was educated at King William's College on the Isle of Man, he joined the Honourable Artillery Company a Territorial Army unit in 1928. He worked for Shell in Thailand, and later Malaya, until the war began when, in 1940, he was commissioned into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. He was later posted to the 2nd South Staffords and participated in the glider assault on Sicily.

Commanding B Company, the 35 year old Major flew to Arnhem with the First Lift, travelling in a Horsa glider from RAF Manston. However they had only been airborne for five minutes when the tow rope became disconnected from the Albemarle tug, causing the glider to stagger while the tow rope coiled up and lashed back at them. The glider made a safe landing in a field, bumping over the rough ground and ripping through a fence before coming to a standstill. Cain described it as a terrible anti-climax, and said how the glider pilot couldn't believe his luck as exactly the same thing had happened to him on D-Day.

Cain and his men flew out to Arnhem as part of the Second Lift on the following day. Upon landing he immediately set out to find B Company, who were presently moving forward to help the 1st Para Brigade, but he wasn't able to resume command until late on the following morning, when they were involved in vicious fighting in a dell around the area of the St. Elizabeth Hospital. The South Staffords were being heavily attacked by tank and self-propelled guns, but they weren't able to bring up any anti-tank guns to repel them. Mortars were effectively being fired at point blank range upon German infantry, but the Staffords had to rely on PIATs to deal with the armour. Lieutenant Georges Dupenois kept several tanks at bay with his PIAT, while Major Jock Buchanan and Cain drew a lot of enemy fire by running around searching for ammunition for him. Cain did not believe that any tanks were actually disabled during the action, but the hits did encourage them to withdraw; even firing at the turrets with Bren guns forced them to move. The PIAT ammunition ran out at 11:30, and from then on the tanks had free rein over the area and proceeded to blow the defenceless troopers out of the buildings they occupied. Lt-Colonel McCardie came to see Major Cain and he ordered him to withdraw from the dell. As they were talking, Cain recalled seeing an entire bush being blown clean out of the ground. Putting down a rear guard of about a dozen men and a Bren gun, the Company withdrew from what Cain later described as the South Staffords Waterloo. However only he and a handful of other men succeeded in escaping.

Falling back through the 11th Battalion, Major Cain informed them that the tanks were on their way and requested they give him a PIAT, though sadly they had none to spare. He withdrew his men beyond the Battalion and gathered all the remaining South Staffords under his command. Though C Company was largely intact, at this stage he only managed to form two platoons from the entire battalion.

As the 11th Battalion were preparing to capture some high ground to pave the way for an attack by the rest of the Division, Lt-Colonel George Lea decided to utilise Major Cain and his men by ordering them to capture the nearby high ground, known as "De Brink", to lend support to their own attack. This they did, but were soon spotted and came under very heavy mortar fire. The ground was too hard for the men to dig in and so they took many casualties. After he saw the destruction of the 11th Battalion, Cain took the decision to withdraw his men, numbering only 100, towards Oosterbeek.

Cain appeared to have developed an intense loathing of tanks after the bitter experiences of his Battalion on Tuesday 19th, and he personally saw to it that as many were destroyed as possible. If ever armour approached then he would grab the nearest PIAT and set out to deal with it himself. On one occasion, two Tiger tanks approached the South Staffords position, and Cain lay in wait in a slit trench while Lieutenant Ian Meikle of the Light Regiment gave him bearings from a house above him. The first tank fired at the house and killed Meikle, while the chimney collapsed and almost fell on top of Major Cain. He still held his position until it was 100 yards away, whereupon he fired at it. The tank immediately returned fire with its machinegun and wounded Cain, who took refuge in a nearby shed from where he fired another round, which exploded beneath the tank and disabled it. The crew abandoned the vehicle but all were gunned down as they bailed out. Cain fired at the second tank, but the bomb was faulty and exploded directly in front of him. It blew him off his feet and left him blind with metal fragments in his blackened face. As his men dragged him off, Cain recalls yelling like a hooligan and calling for somebody to get hold of the PIAT and deal with the tank. One of the Light Regiment's 6lber guns was brought forward and it blew the tank apart.

Half an hour later though, Cain's sight returned, and against doctor's advice he refused to stay with the wounded and declared himself fit for duty. He also refused morphia (which was in very short supply) to ease the pain he had. Instead he armed himself with another PIAT and went in search of tanks, frequently alone. Tigers continued to harass the Lonsdale Force, and upon hearing that one was in the area, Major Cain raced out to an anti-tank gun and began to drag it into position. A gunner saw him and ran over to assist, and the two men succeeded in disabling it. Cain wanted to fire another shot to make sure that it was finished off, but the gunner informed him that the blast had destroyed the gun's recoil mechanism and it could no longer fire.

On Friday 22nd, his eardrums burst from his constant firing, but he continued to take on any tanks he encountered, contenting himself with merely stuffing pieces of field dressing into his ears. Nevertheless he never ceased to urge his men on, and was seen by his driver, Private Grainger, giving a man his last cigarette.

Monday 25th saw very heavy fighting in the area occupied by the Lonsdale Force. Self-propelled guns, flame thrower tanks, and infantry took great interest in Cain's position. By this time there were no more PIAT's available to the Major. Undeterred, he armed himself with a two inch mortar (which at times he was holding off the ground in an almost horizontal position because incoming Germans were so close) and added further trophies to his collection, while his brilliant leadership ensured that the South Staffords gave no ground and drove the enemy off in complete disorder. By the end of the Battle, Cain had been responsible for the destruction or disabling of six tanks, four of which were Tigers, as well as a number of self-propelled guns.

As the Division was about to withdraw, some men were encouraged to shave before crossing the river, determined to leave looking like British soldiers. Robert found a razor and some water and proceeded to remove a week's growth of beard from his face, drying himself on his filthy, blood-stained Denison smock. His effort was noticed by Brigadier Hicks who remarked "Well, there's one officer, at least, who's shaved". Cain happily replied that he had been well brought up.

When the actual evacuation was taking place, Major Cain remained on the north bank until his men had departed for the other side. However when it came to his turn there didn't seem to be any boats left in operation. He and some fellow men caught sight of a damaged assault craft in the river, and they swam out to collect it. Using their rifle butts as paddles while other troopers baled out the water that was threatening to sink it, they made it across.

Major Cain's conduct throughout was of the highest order, both in terms of personal actions and leadership ability, and for this he was awarded the Victoria Cross; the only man to receive this medal at Arnhem and live to tell the tale. His citation said of him "His coolness and courage under incessant fire could not be surpassed".

Unit : B Company, 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment

Service No. : 129484

After World War II

After the war he journeyed to Norway with the 1st Airlanding Brigade and Divisional HQ to oversee the German surrender. He returned to his pre-war occupation with Shell, living in the East Asia and later West Africa, before retiring to the Isle of Man with his family. Robert Cain died of cancer on the 2 May 1974. He was cremated at Worth Crematorium, and is buried in an unmarked place in the family grave at Braddan Cemetery which is in the Isle of Man.

There is a chapel in the Hospice at Douglas, on the Isle of Man, that is dedicated to his memory, and also a memorial scholarship at King William's College. The Staffordshire Regimental Museum holds several items relating to the Major, including his Victoria Cross, and the Denison smock and maroon beret he wore at Arnhem.

The medal

* His Victoria Cross is displayed at the museum of The Staffordshire Regiment "(Lichfield, Staffordshire, England)".

Family

* His daughter, Frances Catherine Cain, is the agent for and is married to British television & motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson who presented a documentary on him and other VC winners. The young Ms Cain remained unaware of her father's VC until after he died. Apparently he had never thought to mention it.

References

*British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)

External links

* [http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/iofman.htm Location of grave and VC medal] "(Isle of Man)"
* [http://blenheimhousenetwork.com/Close%20Combat/Bitten%20Few/vc_at_arnhem.htm VC at Arnhem] "(Arnhem operation details and photos)"
* [http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/robert_cain.htm Pegasus Archive website piece on Robert Cain]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=LufdzZIPPHQ The above mentioned tv show about him and other VC winners. By Clarkson]