Apiata is the only recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand, which replaced the British Victoria Cross in 1999.[2][3] There are no living New Zealand recipients of the Victoria Cross, which was last awarded to a New Zealander for actions in the Second World War. Between 1864 and 1943, 21 members of the New Zealand forces were awarded the Victoria Cross including Captain Charles Upham, awarded a Bar to the Victoria Cross in 1945 for gallantry in Egypt in 1942.[4]