EIGHTEEN heroic west London recipients of the prestigious Victoria Cross are to be honoured again with commemorative paving stones 100 years after the First World War.

All 454 British and Irish winners of this highest military decoration are at the heart of government plans to commemorate the centenary of the 1914 to 1918 Great War next year, it was announced last week.

More than 70 Londoners, who received the small bronze crosses for ‘valour in the face of the enemy’, will have commemorative paving stones laid in their home towns.

Three will be laid in Hammersmith and Fulham, seven in Kensington and Chelsea and eight across Westminster over the next four years.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles said: “It is our duty to remember the British and Commonwealth troops who lost their lives fighting in the Great War and we are determined to make sure their bravery for King and Country is not forgotten.”

He also announced that more help will be made available for local communities to restore and refurbish all First World War memorials by November 2018 – the end of the centenary celebrations.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s deputy leader Councillor Greg Smith said: “This is a most fitting way to honour the immense contribution of local Victoria Cross recipients who displayed incredible bravery during the First World War. We look forward to creating a lasting memory for those who defended our nation in an hour of need.”

PROFILES

Corporal Edward Dwyer was one of two Fulham-born soldiers to pick up the Victoria Cross.

He was just 19 years old when the Germans tried to reclaim the strategic advantage point of Hill 60 near Ypres, Belgium on the night of April 20, 1915. Second Lieutenant Benjamin Geary, of Marylebone, and two others from the 4th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, were also honoured with VCs for successfully fighting off the Germans.

Under a shower of grenade bombs, Dwyer climbed to the parapet of his trench to launch grenades back at the enemy, and earlier in the day he left his trench under heavy shell fire to bandage a wounded comrade.

Dwyer was later killed in action at Guillemont on September 4, 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, the war's bloodiest encounter in which one million soldiers were wounded or killed. His medal was presented to the Regimental Museum in 1962.

Lieutenant Frank Alexander de Pass was the first Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross - since its inception by Queen Victoria in 1856 some 50 years earlier - and the first Indian Army officer to win the award in the First World War.

De Pass was born in Kensington to a family of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who settled in England in the 1660s. At the age of 27, he joined the 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse, a regiment in the Indian army.

He was awarded his VC on November 24, 1914 for 'conspicuous bravery' when he entered a German sap and destroyed a traverse in the face of enemy bombs. Under heavy fire, he ran out to help a wounded man lying exposed in the open. Sadly, he was killed in battle just the following day.

Air Commodore Ferdinand West followed in the heroic footsteps of his ancestor Sir Francis Drake who famously defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. Born in Paddington, West joined the war with the Royal Flying Corps and clocked up more than 100 flying hours as an observer spying on enemy ground fire.

West received the Military Cross in May 1918 after attack from four Pfalz scouts. Five months later he became the first member of the RAF to accept the Victoria Cross. On August 12, a 22-year-old West was attacked by seven aircraft while flying over France. One of his legs was partially severed by an explosive bullet, which was later amputated. Although wounded in the other leg, he managed to regain control of his aircraft and drove the enemy away with several bursts of his machine guns. He continued to gather intelligence with the RAF during the Second World War before pursuing a career in film. He died in Windsor in 1988, aged 92.

WEST LONDON VC RECIPIENTS

HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM

* Corporal Edward Dwyer of 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment – April 20, 1915 at Hill 60, Belgium

* Sergeant Charles Spackman of Border Regiment – November 20, 1917 at Marcoing, France

* Wing Commander Frederick Palmer of Royal Fusiliers – July 1-2, 1915 at Courcelette, France

KENSINGTON & CHELSEA

* Lieutenant Frank De Pass of 34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse – November 24, 1914 at Festubert, France

* Squadron Commander Richard Bell-Davies of No 3 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service – November 19, 1915 at Ferrijik Junction, Bulgaria

* Second Lieutenant Frank Wearne of Essex Regiment – June 18, 1917 at Loos, France

* Captain George Cartwright of 33rd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force - August 31, 1918 at Bouchavesnes, France

* Lieutenant Humphrey Firman of SS Julnar, Royal Navy - April 24-25, 1916 at Kut-el-Amara, Mesopotamia

* Sergeant-Major George Evans of Manchester Regiment - July 30, 1916 at Guillemont, France

* Captain Arthur Batten-Pooll of Royal Munster Fusiliers - June 25, 1916 at Cologne, France

WESTMINSTER

* Second Lieutenant Benjamin Geary of 4th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment - April 20-21, 1915 at Hill 60, Belgium

* Second Lieutenant John Dunville of 1st Royal Dragoons – June 24-25, 1917 at Epehy, France

* Second Lieutenant Dennis Hewitt of Hampshire Regiment – July 31, 1917 at Ypres, Belgium

* Battery Sergeant Major George Dorrell of Royal Horse Artillery – September , 1914 at Nery, France

* Air Commodore Ferdinand West of No 8 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps – August 12, 1918 over France

* Private Leonard Keysor of 1st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force – August 7, 1915 at Gallipoli, Turkey

* Lance Corporal Harold Mugford of Machine Gun Corp – April 11, 1917 at Moncy-le-Preux, France

* Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Drummond of Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve – May 9-10, 1918 at Ostend, Belgium