Oxfordshire exhibition honours bravery of county's heroes

Company Sergeant Major Edward Brooks was awarded the Victoria Cross after he served on the Western Front in World War One

An exhibition has opened to honour the bravery of heroes with connections to Oxfordshire.

Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SOFO) Museum in Woodstock is celebrating military personnel and civilians with close links to the county.

The men recognised in the Oxfordshire Gallantry Board display were awarded the Victoria Cross, the George Cross, or the Edward and Albert medals.

The project was made possible with the help of local charities.

David Innes, a trustee for the SOFO Museum, said: "It is a superb display of the sons of Oxfordshire, who faced danger in their own personal way.

"All three services are represented, with heroes from conflicts as far back as 1857 and the most recent is from 2009."

The permanent display highlights the local link that each of the 31 men had, and Mr Innes said: "We want people to know about the heroes who lived down the road to where they live now.

"And this exhibition is a magnificent opportunity to bring all those significant medal holders together in one place."

The Victoria Cross was introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856, and awarded to military personnel who demonstrated exceptional acts of valour in the presence of the enemy.

The Albert Medal was introduced in 1866 and was awarded for saving lives at sea.

Corporal Alfred Wilcox was part of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in World War One and received the Victoria Cross

Two civilians appear in the display, and received the Edward Medal which is from 1907, and was originally awarded solely for bravery among miners and quarrymen, but was later extended to farm and industrial workers.

Ten Oxfordshire men were awarded the Victoria Cross prior to 1914, in campaigns ranging from the Crimean War to the Boer War.

Six more were awarded to county men during the Great War, including Company Sergeant Major Edward Brooks and Corporal Alfred Wilcox. Both served on the Western Front in the same Territorial battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

The rest of the military men in the exhibition received the George Cross and the George Medal, which were both introduced in September 1940 by King George VI for "acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of the most extreme danger" and superseded the Albert and Edward medals.

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