Mark Green
Mark was born and bred in Worcestershire, where he still lives with his wife Victoria and 5-year-old daughter, Isabelle. He obtained a degree in history at the University of Central Lancashire in 1997, followed by a PGCE in secondary history in 2000. He has been teaching at a Special Needs School in Worcester since 2004 and is now the Assistant Headteacher there. He is the subject leader for both history and geography.
Military history is his passion, and in 2014, he started the website, which is now www.victoriacrossonline.co.uk, which has a strong following all around the world.
He is also a sports fan being a big supporter of Manchester Utd (for his sins) and used to play cricket until his legs couldn’t take it anymore.
Stan Hollis VC: The Man They Couldn't Kill
Well known for being the only recipient of the Victoria Cross for actions on 6 June 1944 (D-Day), Company Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, was a true leader of men and a superb soldier. However, that only just scratches the surface of a man who was recommended for not just the Victoria Cross twice, but also the Military Medal and the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Mark Green tells the story of a son of Middlesbrough, who fought in many of the key conflicts of WW2 with distinction, being wounded five times, only to shun publicity and state "anyone would have done what I did".
He truly was "The Man They Couldn't Kill".
Arnhem VCs
Arnhem VCs focuses on the story of Operation Market Garden, the second largest Allied air invasion of the Second World War. Though Operation Market Garden liberated much of the Netherlands from German occupation, attempted to establish a foothold from which the Allies could make later offensives into Germany and showed the courage and determination of the Allied forces in Arnhem, it remained a costly failure, with lasting consequences.
In the second part of the book, the attention switches to the five men, all from different backgrounds, whose actions would lead to the highest award for valour–the Victoria Cross. Mark Green tells the story of the struggle for Arnhem and the part these five men played–tales of duty, devotion and self sacrifice.
Burma Campaign VCs
“Mark Green is to be congratulated for this brilliant compilation of the 29 Victoria Crosses from the Burma Campaign, nine from members of the British Army and 20 from the Indian Army, of whom nine were from the ten Regiments of Gurkhas. Their stories are ones of uncompromising sacrifice and courage in some of the fiercest fighting of the Second World War. In the words of Pericles, these men knew their duty, and did it. Green has carefully recounted the context in which these men were awarded the greatest of all British and imperial awards, many of them doing so posthumously. They must never be forgotten.”
Dr Robert Lyman MBE
