Alfred Hulme

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Photo by Terry Macdonald

Alfred Clive Hulme VC (January 24, 1911-September 2, 1982) was a New Zealand recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

1 Details
2 Further information
3 The medal
4 References
5 References
6 External links
7 External links

[edit] Details

He was 30 years old and a Sergeant in the 23rd Battalion, (The Canterbury Regiment) 5th Brigade, 2nd Division, 2NZEF during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

During the period 20/28 May 1941 in Crete, Greece, Sergeant Hulme displayed outstanding leadership and courage. At Maleme he led a party against the enemy who were attacking with rifles, machine-guns and mortars. At Galatos he drove the enemy away from a school building with hand grenades. At Suda Bay he killed five snipers and at Styles he wiped out a mortar crew and accounted for three more snipers.

In 2006, law professor Bill Hodge argued that Hulme's act was "prima facie a war crime", having broken the rules of war by wearing German uniform when killing the five snipers [1].

[edit] Further information

Hulme was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and worked as a farm labourer before he enlisted in the 23rd Battalion as a sergeant. He stalked and killed 33 German snipers. Hulme once disguised himself as a German paratrooper and killed a number of enemies on the outskirts of Galatos.

His son Denny Hulme won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1967.

Clive Hulme died at Te Puke on September 2, 1982, and was buried at Dudley-Vercoe Cemetery, Dudley-Vercoe Drive, Te Puke (20 miles from Tauranga), New Zealand, civilian section.

Back row, Left to Right: Col. L.W. Andrew, Maj. R.S. Judson, Pte. J.D. Crichton, Lt. H.J. Laurent, Lt. C.R.G. Bassett
Front row, Sg. J.D. Hinton, Lt. K. Elliott, Cpt. C.H. Upham, Sg. A.C. Hulme, Cpt. S. Frickleton, Lt. J.G. Grant

[edit] The medal

His Victoria Cross was displayed at the QEII Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand. On Sunday 2 December 2007 it was one of nine Victoria Crosses that were among a hundred medals stolen from the museum.^[1] On 16 February 2008 New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered as a result of a NZ$300,000 reward offered by Michael Ashcroft and Tom Sturgess.^[2]