Services honour city's Victoria Cross recipients

A statue of L/Sgt John Baskeyfield, known as Jack, is situated at Festival Park in Hanley

A city's three Victoria Cross recipients are to be honoured as part its centenary year Remembrance ceremonies.

Tributes will be paid to the extraordinary courage of L/Sgt John Baskeyfield, L/Sgt John Rhodes and Sgt Ernest Egerton at services in Stoke-on-Trent on Remembrance Sunday.

The Victoria Cross is Britain's joint-highest award for gallantry, and recognises an act of extreme bravery.

"These Victoria Cross recipients showed courage and selflessness beyond measure," said Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, councillor Steve Watkins.

"As we mark the city's centenary, it is right that we come together to remember their bravery and the sacrifices they made for our country."

"As a veteran myself, it means a great deal to ensure that the legacy of heroes like Jack, John and Ernest live on for future generations."

He described them as "ordinary young men who showed extraordinary courage in some of the darkest moments of our history" and said their sacrifice would always be honoured.

L/Sgt Baskeyfield, from Burslem, posthumously received the Victoria Cross for his actions at Arnhem in 1944, manning two anti-tank guns despite being wounded.

Meanwhile, L/Sgt Rhodes, from Packmoor, was the most highly decorated non-commissioned officer in the Grenadier Guards, recognised for bravery at Passchendaele in 1917.

Sgt Egerton, born in Longton, received the Victoria Cross at just 20 years old for his actions in the same battle.

The fallen soldiers will be remembered at services in Stoke-on-Trent this Sunday

There will be a service at Burslem Cenotaph, outside Swan Bank Methodist Church, at which L/Sgt Baskeyfield will be remembered.

Meanwhile, the city's Remembrance service will be held at Stoke Cenotaph, outside the town hall, and will honour all three Victoria Cross recipients.

As part of the Stoke 100 centenary programme, the Spitfire Gallery at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery will host an expanded exhibition featuring items gifted by L/Sgt Baskeyfield's family to the Staffordshire Regiment Museum.

For the first time, his posthumous Victoria Cross will be on display, alongside a screening of a special film in the museum's theatre on Arnhem and L/Sgt Baskeyfield's final stand.

The film contains original footage and charts the battle and courage Baskeyfield displayed before being killed in action at the age of 21.