Major Robert Henry Cain VC TD (2 January 1909 – 2 May 1974) was a British Army officer who was a 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.
Cain grew up on the Isle of Man and joined the Honourable Artillery Company in 1928. After working overseas he was granted an emergency commission into the Army in 1940. He transferred to the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1942, and joined their 2nd Battalion, part of the British 1st Airborne Division. He saw active service during the Allied Invasion of Sicily in 1943 and again during the Battle of Arnhem the following year. During the battle Major Cain's company was closely engaged with enemy tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry. Cain continually exposed himself to danger while leading his men and personally dispatched as much enemy armour as possible. Despite sustaining several injuries he refused medical attention and for his gallantry he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Later in the war he took part in Operation Doomsday, where the 1st Airborne Division oversaw the German surrender in Norway. He left the army in late 1945 and returned to his pre-war job at Royal Dutch Shell. He died of cancer in 1974.
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Early life
Robert Henry Cain was born in Shanghai on 2 January 1909. His parents were Manx, and returned to the Isle of Man when he was young. He was educated at King William's College. In 1928, Cain joined the Honourable Artillery Company, a unit of the Territorial Army (TA). The TA was the volunteer reserve force of the British Army and members continued in civilian employment. Cain worked in Thailand and Malaya for Shell. He was placed on the supplementary reserve list on 12 February 1931.
Second World War
In April 1940, shortly after the start of the Second World War, Cain was granted an emergency commission into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers as a second lieutenant. In 1942, he was seconded to the 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment before being temporarily promoted to the rank of major in April 1943—a position he retained until the rank was formally confirmed in 1945. The 2nd South Staffordshire was part of 1st Airlanding Brigade, which landed in Sicily in July 1943 as part of Operation Ladbroke. In the same month, Cain took command of the battalion's B company.
Battle of Arnhem
The Battle of Arnhem was part of Operation Market Garden, a coordinated attempt to secure a string of strategic bridges through the Netherlands. At Arnhem, the British 1st Airborne Division and Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were tasked with securing the bridges over the Lower Rhine, which were the final objectives of the operation. However, the airborne forces that dropped on 17 September had no knowledge that the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions were positioned near Arnhem. Their presence added a substantial number of Panzergrenadiers, tanks and self-propelled guns to the German defences, and the Allies suffered heavily in the ensuing battle. Only a small force briefly held one end of the Arnhem road bridge before being overrun on the 21st. The rest of the division became trapped in a small pocket west of the bridge and had to be evacuated on the 25th. The Allies failed to cross the Rhine, which remained under German control until Allied offensives in March 1945.
The Allies planned to fly British and Polish to Arnhem in three separate lifts over three days. Major General Roy Urquhart decided to deploy the 1st Airlanding Brigade first, as glider troops could assemble more quickly than parachute infantry, and secure the landing areas. Cain took off with the first lift along with two companies of the South Staffords, but only five minutes after departing from RAF Manston, the tow rope connecting the Albemarle tug to his Horsa glider pulled out of the leading aircraft. After landing safely, the glider's occupants were able to fly out the following day with the second lift.
In Arnhem, the Allied plan quickly unravelled. Only a small group of the 1st Parachute Brigade, mainly elements of Lieutenant Colonel John Frost's 2nd Battalion, were able to reach the bridge. The 1st and 3rd Battalions were unable to penetrate the outer suburbs of the city, and their advance stalled, so in order to support them, the first lift of the South Staffords were sent forward on the morning of the 18th. When Cain arrived with the second lift, they too were sent forward, arriving at the outskirts of Arnhem on the night of the 18th. Lieutenant Colonel David Dobie of the 1st Battalion proposed a concentrated attack on a narrow front between the Lower Rhine and the Arnhem railway line. The South Staffords would advance toward the bridge, with the remnants of the 1st and 3rd Battalions on their right flank, while the 11th Parachute Battalion remained in reserve. The Staffords moved forward at 4.30am with D Company in the lead, followed by B and A Companies with C Company in reserve. In the area around St Elizabeth Hospital, the lead company met heavy resistance clearing houses. B Company then took the lead, getting as far as a dell near the Arnhem City Museum. Here, Cain and his men encountered enemy armour for the first time.
Victoria Cross
Fifty-nine decorations were published for the small group of men who successfully escaped Arnhem, and these were awarded in an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 6 December 1944. As well as being the only survivor of the battle to receive the Victoria Cross, Cain was also the first — and, to date, only — Manxman to be awarded the medal. Posthumous VCs were announced later, including one for Lance Sergeant John Baskeyfield of the 2nd South Staffordshire Battalion's anti-tank platoon. The 2nd Battalion thus became the only British battalion to receive two VCs in one engagement during the Second World War.
War Office, 2nd November, 1944.
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve awards of the VICTORIA CROSS to: —
Captain (temporary Major) Robert Henry Cain (129484), The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, (attd. The South Staffordshire Regiment)
(I Airborne Division) (Salcombe, Devon).
In Holland on 19th September, 1944, Major Cain was commanding a rifle company of the South Staffordshire Regiment during the Battle of Arnhem when his company was cut off from the rest of the battalion and during the next six days was closely engaged with enemy tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry. The Germans made repeated attempts to break into the company position by infiltration and had they succeeded in doing so the whole situation of the Airborne Troops would have been jeopardised.
Major Cain, by his outstanding devotion to duty and remarkable powers of leadership, was to a large extent personally responsible for saving a vital sector from falling into the hands of the enemy.
On 20th September a Tiger tank approached the area held by his company and Major Cain went out alone to deal with it armed with a P.I.A.T.. Taking up a position he held his fire until the tank was only 20 yards away when he opened up. The tank immediately halted and turned its guns on him, shooting away a corner of the house near where this officer was lying. Although wounded by machine gun bullets and falling masonry, Major Cain continued firing until he had scored several direct hits, immobilised the tank and supervised the bringing up of a 75mm. howitzer which completely destroyed it. Only then would he consent to have his wounds dressed.
End of the war
The hostilities in Europe ended on 8 May 1945, when the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. There were, however, a large number of German units in Norway – one of the few places in Europe still under German control – and the Allies feared the German commander there might attempt to fight on. In Operation Doomsday, Cain travelled to Oslo, Norway, with the 1st Airlanding Brigade on 11 May 1945. Working with Milorg (the Norwegian resistance), the British took the surrender of German troops in Norway without incident, before returning to the UK on 25 August 1945. Having remained in the service of the South Staffordshire Regiment, Cain officially relinquished his wartime commission on 28 December 1945 and was granted the honorary rank of major.
Later life
Upon leaving the army, Cain went back to his pre-war occupation with Shell, living in East Asia and then West Africa. In 1951 he was elected to the Nigerian House of Representatives while working there. He returned to Britain in 1965 and settled in the Isle of Man upon his retirement.
Family
Cain and his wife had four children. His daughter, Frances Catherine Cain, was married to television presenter Jeremy Clarkson from 1993 to 2014.
Death
Cain died of cancer on 2 May 1974 in Crowborough, Sussex. He was cremated at Worth Crematorium, Crawley, and his ashes were interred in the family grave at Braddan Cemetery on the Isle of Man.
Memorials
There are several memorials in Cain's honour. King William's College has a memorial scholarship in his name, and the chapel in the Hospice at Douglas is dedicated in his name. An oak tree in Dhoon Arboretum, planted with acorns gathered from Arnhem, has been christened the Arnhem Oak in memory of his bravery. His Victoria Cross, Denison smock, and the maroon beret he wore during the Battle of Arnhem are all held at the Staffordshire Regiment Museum. His daughter, Frances Cain, unveiled a set of commemorative coins honouring her father on the Isle of Man in 2006. She was married to British television and motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson, who presented a BBC documentary, The Victoria Cross: For Valour on Cain and other VC recipients in 2003. Frances Cain was unaware of her father's VC until after he died because, according to Clarkson, "he'd never thought to mention it".