A permanent memorial for an Oswestry soldier who received the Victoria Cross for gallantry is set to be erected in the town.

Sergeant Harold Whitfield was awarded for his role at Burj El Lisaneh in Egypt on March 10, 1918, as a member of the 10th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.

And now, five years after the Department for Communities and Local Government announces it would be presenting Shropshire Council with a commemorative paving stone in his honour, a date has been set for unveiling it.

Clerk to the council, David Preston, explained that the two authorities had been liaising and it had been agreed that the stone will be placed in Cae Glas Park.

The stone will include Sgt Whitfield’s name, the date of his award.

It aims to be a legacy of his heroism.

The unveiling on May 8 will include local schoolchildren as well as members of Sgt Whitfield’s family.

Mayor of Oswestry, Cllr Vince Hunt, added: “He was an Oswestry man through and through who was awarded the Victoria across. This is a man who answered his country’s call and saved many lives.

“It is right and proper that we do this.”