Robert Henry Cain - Later Life

Later Life

The hostilities in Europe officially ended on 8 May 1945, when the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of German forces. 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. Upon leaving the army he 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.

Cain died of cancer on 2 May 1974 in Crowborough, Sussex. He was cremated at Worth Crematorium and buried in the family grave at Braddan Cemetery on the Isle of Man. There are several memorials in Cain's honour. King William's College have 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 medal, Denison smock and the maroon beret he wore during the Battle of Arnhem are all held at the Staffordshire Regimental Museum. His daughter, Frances Catherine Cain, unveiled a set of commemorative coins honouring her father on the Isle of Man in 2006. She is also married to, and acts as the agent for, British television and motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson who presented a BBC documentary, "The Victoria Cross: For Valour" on Cain and other VC winners 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".