Great War hero in the family

SAUL with the Victoria Cross awarded to Sgt John Hogan, of Royton.

Saul’s distant relative awarded VC
A PUPIL made a rewarding discovery when he went off to do his history homework.

Children at St Joseph’s RC School, Shaw, had been looking at the events of the First World War, including its outbreak, the Schlieffen Plan and life in the trenches.

For the project the children were asked to research the lives of individual soldiers.

Year 6 pupil Saul Prince was delighted to discover that his great-great-great-uncle — Sgt Thomas Steele — was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917, for “most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty”.

Oldham-born Sgt Steele, who was 87 when he died, served in the 1st battalion, Seaforth Highlanders and gained his medal for his action in Mesopotamia — now Iraq.

His regiment was attempting to lift the Turkish siege of Kut-al-Amara, 500 miles from Basra.

On February 22, 1917, Sgt Steele used a machine gun to beat off an enemy attack and risked his life to rally a party of Indian soldiers, who had lost all their officers.

Later, during further acts of valour, including leading a number of men from the trenches, Sgt Steele was severely injured.

He suffered 12 wounds but recovered and went on to play professional rugby league for Broughton and also served as a scoutmaster in Lees.

Only 1,356 of the medals — the highest honour bestowed on members of the UK armed forces — have ever been awarded.

One VC is kept at Oldham Civic Centre. It was awarded to John Hogan, of Royton, a sergeant in the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, and one of the first soldiers to receive the Victoria Cross in the First World War.

St Joseph’s deputy head, Steven Hill, said: “We discovered that a Victoria Cross was actually held in the Civic Centre and we managed to arrange a class visit to view the medal on Tuesday, which the children loved.

“The children have been totally engaged and enthused by the First World War.

“Researching the lives of some of the soldiers from the war and the story behind Sgt Steele’s actions during the war and the subsequent awarding of the Victoria Cross has been so inspiring for us all.”