Historians raise thousands to erect memorial to VC hero of Western Front

A FIRST World War tunneller described as the bravest soldier of the conflict is to be finally recognised with a memorial at the spot where he lost his life.

Sapper William Hackett was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross by George V after he died helping four of his comrades on the Western Front in 1916.

The VC was described as "the most deserving out all those awarded in the war" by historian Peter Barton, who has written books about the struggle.

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Now a memorial is to be built in Givenchy in northern France where Sapper Hackett died, after a campaign by historians and military leaders raised 24,000.

Sapper Hackett, a former miner from Mexborough in South Yorkshire, was rejected three times by the York and Lancaster Regiment because he was too old at 42.

He finally managed to join the Army when he enlisted in the Royal Engineers tunnelling companies in 1915 and his moment of bravery came a year later.

Sapper Hackett and four other men were digging a tunnel towards enemy lines on June 27, 1916, when a mine exploded above them, burying them alive.

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They managed to make a hole through the fallen earth and timber, and after 20 hours of solid digging, Sapper Hackett helped three of the men out alive.

He could have followed them but refused to leave the fourth man, who was seriously injured, saying: "I am a tunneller and must look after the others first."

His efforts were in vain because shortly afterwards, the earth collapsed and despite the efforts of a rescue party the pair remain buried there to this day.

Mr Barton said: "This has been a five-year-long project and the memorial is to honour the tunnellers, and in particular Sapper Hackett, who fought a war underground that not many people are aware of.

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"I don't think anyone can really identify with what these soldiers had to go through in terms of charging all guns blazing at the enemy. But I do think we can relate to being in claustrophobic place."

Sapper Hackett's VC medal is kept at the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham, Kent. The memorial will be officially unveiled at Givenchy on Saturday June 19.

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