Throughout the entire battle, Cain’s actions were legendary among his
fellow troops. His “coolness and courage under incessant re could
not be surpassed,” and his “powers of endurance and leadership were
the admiration of all.” He was personally credited with destroying or
disabling a total of six tanks and several self-propelled guns. He was
one of the last men to cross the Rhine during the evacuation, having
famously taken the time to shave before doing so. He was the only
Victoria Cross recipient from the battle to survive.
Post-War Life
After the Battle of Arnhem, Cain and the 1st Airborne Division were
sent to Norway in May 1945 as part of Operation Doomsday, with the
task of overseeing the peaceful surrender of German forces there.
Cain travelled to Oslo with the 1st Airlanding Brigade on 11 May
1945. Working alongside 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, he ofcially relinquished his
wartime commission in December 1945 and was granted the honorary
rank of major. He was also awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) for
his service.
After the war, Cain returned to his pre-war job with Shell, living and
working in East Asia and West Africa. In 1951, he was elected to the
Nigerian House of Representatives. He and his wife, Pamela, went on
to have four children: Finlo, Rosemary, Helena, and Frances. Frances
was married to Jeremy Clarkson between 1993 and 2014. He continued
to work for Shell until his retirement in 1965 and returned to the Isle
of Man, where he lived out the remainder of his life with his family.
In a poignant detail, his daughter, Frances Cain, has mentioned that
she was unaware of her father’s Victoria Cross until after his death.
This suggests that like many heroes of his generation, he was humble
about his wartime service and did not speak about his extraordinary
actions. He died of cancer in 1974 at the age of 65. His ashes were
interred in the family grave at Braddan Cemetery on the Isle of Man.