PRIMARY school students have taken part in a rededication ceremony for a war hero at Runcorn Cemetery.
Year six pupils from Victoria Road Primary School recently attended an event to honour the life of Thomas ‘Todger’ Jones, who served as a private in the 1st Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment during the First World War and was a recipient of the Victoria Cross.
The Victoria Cross Trust cleaned Todger’s gravestone using specialist equipment and brought in artefacts for the children to see.
The ceremony was also attended by armed forces veterans, the Victoria Cross Trust and Neil Thornton – author of Todger, a book about the act of bravery for which he won the honour.
Neil told the children about Todger’s achievements before they marched to Runcorn Cemetery for the rededication.
The soldier, who was born in Runcorn on Christmas Day 1880, left his trench by himself during the Battle of Morval in September 1916 after spotting an enemy sniper.
He crossed the no man’s land without cover and, despite being shot twice, single-handedly disarmed 102 Germans and took over their entire trench.
The book also details how a pupil of Victoria Road school remembers watching Todger’s funeral from one of the classroom windows after he died aged 75 in 1956.
Both Neil and the Victoria Cross Trust will continue to work with the children throughout this academic year.
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