Pte Henry Robson: South Shields VC hero honoured
A World War One Victoria Cross winner has been honoured at a special ceremony on South Tyneside.
A commemorative paving stone was unveiled in a South Shields street, named after Private Henry Robson.
Pte Robson was born in the town in 1894 and joined the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) in 1912.
He was awarded the medal for leaving his trench near Ypres in Belgium on 14 December 1914, under heavy fire, to rescue a wounded officer.
Pte Robson was later given the Freedom of the Borough of South Shields in 1915. He died in Canada in 1964 where he had served as the Sergeant-at-Arms in the Ontario Parliament in Toronto.
The paving stone was unveiled in Robson Close, which is one of a number of streets in South Shields named after local people awarded the Victoria Cross.
The Mayor of South Tyneside, Fay Cunningham, laid a wreath during the ceremony.
Ed Malcolm, chairman of the South Tyneside Council's Armed Forces Forum, said: "This year is a hugely important year for the armed forces, marking the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of The Great War and it is very fitting the selfless act of valour shown by Pte Henry Robson is being commemorated in his birth place."
Serving soldiers from the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland - the successor unit to Pte Robson's old regiment - will also be present.
Military organisations involved in the ceremony also include The Royal Scots Association, The Royal British Legion and the Durham Light Infantry Association.
The stone is part of a national scheme that will see every one of the 628 Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War commemorated.