Paving stones honour First World War heroes

A total of 430 servicemen were awarded the Victoria Cross during the conflict – the highest award for military valour in the UK for bravery “in the face of the enemy”.

Each stone, designed following a competition, uses the material, form and lettering of the family of memorials used by the War Graves Commission. It will bring the layout to cities, towns and villages across the UK and is to make people “pause and remember”.

The design was unveiled by Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles who said stories from the conflict could no longer be heard first hand.

“We have a responsibility to continue to inspire,” he said. “These paving stones are just one way that young people can retrieve history, and commemorate the suffering and sacrifice of the First World War.”

He also recounted stories from his own family.

His maternal grandfather “had a whale of a time” in the Royal Navy, where he ended up guarding cranes built in the family’s home town of Keighley. His paternal grandfather fought on the Somme, however, suffering a collapsed lung.

Mr Pickles said: “He was a jolly little fellow, and never talked about the war until just a year or so before he died. He gathered many of his grandchildren together and just said ‘I’ll tell you what it were like.’ For the first time in my life, the top of my mouth went dry with fear.”