Grave rededication for First World War hero Corporal William Amey VC MM 21082022 CREDIT BFBS.jpg — Corporal William Amey's new grave was honoured with a rededication service which was attended by local dignitaries.

WWI

WWI hero honoured 82 years after his death

A hero soldier awarded a Victoria Cross in the final days of the First World War has been honoured in Leamington Spa, 82 years after his death.

Corporal William Amey VC MM served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment during the Great War and later died of natural causes in the opening months of the Second World War.

Thanks to funding secured from the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, and with support from the Regimental Headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Corporal Amey's final resting place has been restored to its original 1940 condition.

In November 1918, while serving in France, Cpl Amey led a section of soldiers through enemy positions while under fire, driving a German garrison into a farm.

Under Cpl Amey, the men captured 50 enemy prisoners.

His heroism continued, as an attack on a German machine gun position killed two men and drove other German soldiers into a cellar.

The 37-year-old then rushed another post, capturing 20 enemy troops single-handedly.

Corporal William Amey awarded a Victoria Cross DATE UNKNOWN CREDIT Royal Warwickshire Regiment Association.jpg — Corporal William Amey served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment during the Great War (Picture: Royal Warwickshire Regiment Association).

For his repeated bravery, Cpl Amey was awarded the nation's highest honour for gallantry in the face of the enemy, the Victoria Cross.

Cpl Amey's new grave has been honoured with a rededication service which was attended by local dignitaries.

The Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire was joined by figures from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and the grandson of one of Britain's most celebrated and respected wartime commanders, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, the 3rd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

A grave rededication for First World War hero Corporal William Amey VC MM 21082022 CREDIT BFBS.jpg — Corporal Amey's final resting place has been restored to its original 1940 condition.

Speaking to Forces News at the cemetery, Viscount Montgomery said that his grandfather would have been impressed with the actions that led to the awarding of William Amey's Victoria Cross.

Viscount Montgomery added: "His passion, particularly because of his experience in the First World War, was about trying to minimise the loss of life.

"That's why he was very much a soldier's general."

The rededication event was also attended by members of the local army cadet force and included a 'rifle volley' of shots fired from WW1-era weapons.