An exhibition dedicated to six Nottinghamshire Great War heroes is visiting Kirkby next week, the birthplace of one of the men it pays tribute to.

The exhibition honors the six Nottinghamshire people who were awarded the Victoria Cross – the country’s highest military honour – for acts of outstanding bravery during World War I (1914-1918). It will be at Kirkby Library, Ashfield Precinct from Monday 3 to Friday 7 September.

One of the men featured, Wilfred Dolby Fuller was born on 28 July, 1893 in the village of East Kirkby (now part of Kirkby). The family later lived in Shirebrook, Warsop Vale and Mansfield.

He followed in his father’s footsteps by working at local collieries but, from being a boy, he wanted to become a soldier – something his parents were opposed to. So, without telling them he enlisted into the Grenadier Guards on the 30th December 1911.

When war was declared in 1914 he went to France with the 1st Battalion and in December 1914 he was promoted to Lance Corporal. He became a member of the ‘bombing party’ equipped with grenades and on 12th March 1915, at Neuve Chapelle, was awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery.

The citation reads: “Seeing a party of the enemy attempting to escape along a communications trench he ran towards them and killed the leading man with a bomb; the remainder (nearly 50), finding no means of evading the bombs, surrendered to him. Lance Corporal Fuller was quite alone at the time.”

He was presented with the Victoria Cross medal by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 4 June 1915, shortly after a civic reception was held in his honour in Mansfield Market Place, with musical by the band from Mansfield Colliery, where he had once worked (view British Pathe film footage from the event here).

In September of the same year, at the express wish of the Tsar of Russia, he was also decorated by the King, at Sheffield, with the Russian Order of St George.

He was discharged from the Army on 31 October 1916 after being declared medically unfit, due to his injuries, later working as Policeman in Somerset. After retiring from the police on medical grounds in 1939, taking up residence in Frome and died on 22 November 1947.

The Great War Victoria Cross exhibition is touring local venues as part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s commemorations on the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War.

Amongst the other men featured in the exhibition are Sapper William Hackett, who sacrificed his own life to stay with a stricken comrade as they tunnelled under no man’s land, flying-ace Captain Albert Ball, who was regarded as one of the great British pilots of the First World War and Sergeant William Johnson, who single-handedly charged at and captured two machine gun emplacements, despite being severely wounded

The exhibition also includes a replica Victoria Cross medal and information about other medals awarded for service during the Great War.

The six Nottinghamshire men who received the Victoria Cross for their actions during the Great War were:
•Sergeant William Henry Johnson (Worksop)
•Sapper William Hackett (Sneinton)
•Colonel Sir Charles Geoffrey Vickers (Nottingham)
•Captain Albert Ball (Lenton)
•Lance Corporal Wilfrid Dolby Fuller (Kirkby-in-Ashfield / Mansfield)
•Private Samuel Harvey (Bulwell)

Councillor Kay Cutts, leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “More than 14,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians from Nottinghamshire made the ultimate sacrifice for their country during World War I. But, amid the horror of the barbaric conflict, there were acts of inspiring bravery and sacrifice – none more so than those displayed by the six Nottinghamshire recipients of the Victoria Cross , the country’s highest military honour.

“The exhibition is visiting locations and events in all parts of the county on the run up to Armistice Day and I hope local people will make the time to find out more about these incredibly brave local soldiers, who we all owe so much to.”

Further information about the Victoria Cross exhibition and the many other events to mark the centenary of the Great War is available from www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/nottsremembers

A new memorial, which includes the names of all Nottinghamshire’s 14,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, civilians, munitions workers, nurses and others who gave their lives during the Great War, is being created as the centrepiece to the commemorations. To make a donation towards the cost the memorial in their memory, visit nosf.org.uk/roll-of-honour.html