Statue to Middlesbrough VC hero Stan Hollis unveiled

The statue depicts the hero in the heat of battle

A memorial honouring the only soldier to win the Victoria Cross on D-Day has been unveiled in Middlesbrough.

Stan Hollis was awarded the medal for his actions during the storming of the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944.

A campaign by the Stanley E. Hollis VC Memorial Fund to have a statute in his honour erected in his home town raised £150,000.

Chairman Brian Bage, said the 7ft (2m) "magnificent" bronze statue was a fitting tribute to a "true hero".

Hollis was a 31-year-old sergeant major with the Green Howards when he took part in the assault on Gold Beach.

As his company moved inland, he captured several gun positions and rescued two colleagues, taking more than two dozen prisoners in the process.

As a result, he was the only one of almost 62,000 British troops to be awarded the Victoria Cross on the day of the World War Two landings.

Hollis was decorated for his actions in the World War Two beach landings

Created by sculptor Brian Alabaster, the statue depicts the hero in the heat of battle.

Mr Bage, said: "It's taken a lot of hard work by a great many people, but it's been more than worthwhile.

"I hope people will come from far and wide to see it, and to remember the actions of a very brave man."

The memorial was officially unveiled near the town's cenotaph on Linthorpe Road by North Yorkshire's Vice Lord Lieutenant Peter Scrope.