War heroes awarded the VC remembered in ceremony

Seven men from Doncaster who earned the highest award for military valour, the Victoria Cross (VC), are being remembered at a special event in the city on Tuesday.

Six of them served in World War One in France and the other in Belgium during World War Two. Three of them were killed in action.

The ceremony is supporting the Victoria Cross Trust, which cleans and restores military graves and memorials alongside educating the public.

Keith Lumley, its chair of trustees, said: "There have only been 1,360 VCs awarded, so to have such a cluster in one small town, as it was, is hugely significant."

Lance Corporal George Harry Wyatt, 24, of the Coldstream Guards, received a VC after enemy fire set alight straw sacks near farm buildings in France in 1914.

He twice dashed out under heavy fire from Germans just 25 yards away to extinguish the flames, successfully allowing his unit to hold their position.

His great-grandson Matthew Wyatt, 51, from Harrogate, said: "A VC in the family has been something to look up to. As children my brother and I would often see it and be aware of why it was won.

"It reminded me to live with purpose, a sense of duty and contribution, which I saw in other family members, along with courage. Although I never met him, he inspired an interest in role models which I use at work in education and community art."

After the war, Wyatt served as a police officer in both Doncaster and Barnsley, and fathered seven children. He died in 1964 and is buried in the village of Cadeby.

Second Lieutenant Gilbert Stuart Martin Install was 21 and a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps when he won the VC in 1915 - the only man to do so as well as escaping from a German prisoner of war camp.

His aircraft was downed behind enemy lines, but he managed to repair it under heavy fire and flew it back to base.

Although born and raised in Paris, where his father was a dentist, after the war he spent a long career in the RAF. He retired to the village of Scrooby and after his death in 1972 was buried in Doncaster.

Sapper William Hackett was 43 when he died in France in 1916. A miner at Mexborough Colliery near Doncaster, he had been too old to join up before a recruitment drive for men with experience of working underground began.

Following a German mine explosion that collapsed a tunnel shaft, he spent 20 hours helping to rescue three trapped men. He completely refused to abandon a critically injured comrade who was too badly hurt to be pulled through the escape hole. He died alongside him when the tunnel suffered a second, total collapse.

Lance Corporal Thomas Bryan, 35, serving with the Northumberland Fusiliers, was also from a mining family, and worked at Askern Colliery.

He was awarded a VC after advancing alone up a communication trench to silence a German machine gun post in France in 1917 He approached the gun from behind, disabled it, and shot two of the enemy crew, forcing the rest to abandon the post.

He died in 1945 in Bentley, Doncaster.

Sgt Laurence Calvert was 26 and serving with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in France in 1918 when he stormed two machine gun posts alone, killing both crews, capturing the positions and saving his battalion.

Although he grew up in Leeds, Calvert was a miner, and moved to Doncaster in 1910 to work at Cadeby and Maltby collieries. He died in 1964.

Lance Corporal Thomas Norman Jackson's medal was awarded after his death in 1918 at the age of 20. He and a senior officer crossed a canal to capture two machine guns and 12 prisoners, but he was killed later that day.

Before joining up, he worked on the railways at the locomotive depot near Mexborough Station.

The World War Two VC was awarded to Cpl John William Harper, 28, in Belgium. He led his section across exposed ground under heavy fire, and was killed.

He grew up in the village of Hatfield Woodhouse, where he and his father worked as peat cutters, and after his marriage lived in Thorne.

The event will include displays of Victoria Cross heritage, artefacts and history. Local historians will be attendance alongside the trust's patron Rusty Firmin, an SAS veteran who led a team into the Iranian Embassy to release hostages being held there in 1980.

During World War One, 628 VCs were awarded, a quarter posthumously, and 181 soldiers received a Victoria Cross following World War Two.

Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: "On the eve of Remembrance, this special event gives us an opportunity to reflect and give thanks to the brave soldiers who fought for our country.

"Doncaster's seven Victoria Cross recipients came from all walks of life and I hope many people, young and old, will take this opportunity to find out more about them and their most significant roles during two world wars."

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