Fred Potts' Reading statue unveiled

Tom Murphy also sculpted the statue of John Lennon at Liverpool John Lennon Airport

The design for the £150,000 memorial to the only man from Reading to win a Victoria Cross medal has been unveiled.

Fred Potts rescued his comrade Arthur Andrews during the Gallipoli campaign in World War I on a day when the Berkshire Yeomanry lost half its men.

Sculptor Tom Murphy from Liverpool was selected to design the statue which it is hoped will be completed by the centenary of the rescue in August 2015.

Andrews' grandson Chris Andrews said it was a "beautiful piece of work".

He added: "It's quite a poignant thing. I lived with my grandfather for a while and we didn't talk about this at all.

"But now he's gone and things are talked about, such as the way they suffered there."

Highlighting bravery

The two men were injured while advancing on the Turkish line in August 1915 and hid below the Turkish trenches for two days.

Eventually Potts, who had been shot in the thigh, used a shovel as a sledge to drag the badly injured Andrews to safety.

He earned the first Yeomanry VC for "most conspicuous bravery in rescuing a comrade under heavy fire".

The Trooper Potts Memorial Trust was set up after his bravery was highlighted in a BBC Radio Berkshire documentary.

The trust's Richard Bennett said: "Both men came from Reading, and didn't know each other before.

"They both continued to live in Reading and we thought it was fitting to try and recognise the story."

Mr Murphy also sculpted the statue of John Lennon at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.