Major Robert Henry Cain VC TD (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.
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, where he was educated at King William's College.
1921
Only a small force managed to hold one end of the Arnhem road bridge before being overrun on the 21st.
1925
The rest of the division became trapped in a small pocket west of the bridge and had to be evacuated on the 25th.
1928
Cain grew up on the Isle of Man and joined the Honourable Artillery Company in 1928.
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 work; Cain worked in Thailand and Malaya for Shell.
1931
He was placed on the supplementary reserve list on 12 February 1931.
1940
After working overseas he was given an emergency commission into the Army in 1940.
In April 1940, shortly after the start of the Second World War, Cain was given an emergency commission into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers as a second lieutenant.
1942
He transferred to the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1942, and joined their 2nd Battalion, part of the British 1st Airborne Division.
In 1942, he was seconded to 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment before being temporarily promoted to the rank of major in April 1943—a position he would keep until being honourably granted the rank in 1945.
1943
He saw action 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.
The 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment 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.
The Battle of Arnhem was part of Operation Market Garden, an attempt to secure a string of bridges through the Netherlands.
At Arnhem the British 1st Airborne Division and Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were tasked with securing bridges across the Lower Rhine, the final objectives of the operation.
1945
He left the army in late 1945 and returned to his pre-war job at Royal Dutch Shell.
The Allies failed to cross the Rhine, which remained under German control until Allied offensives in March 1945.
The Allies planned to fly the 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.
1974
He died of cancer in 1974.
2011
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 and B Company 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.
2017
However, the airborne forces that dropped on 17 September were not aware that the 9th SS and 10th SS Panzer divisions were also near Arnhem for rest and refit.
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.
2018
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.
