A VICTORIA Cross awarded to a Bury soldier, one of the youngest recipients in the Great War, is to be auctioned next month.

Private George Peachment was just 18 when he was killed in action while rescuing his company commander. He was awarded the Army's highest honour posthumously for his bravery.

The VC, thought to be in the possession of family members now living in the South, is expected to raise between £18,000 and £22,000 when it goes under the hammer at London auction house Spinks on November 6.

Pte Peachment was serving with the 2nd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, when he was killed during the Battle of Loos on September 25, 1915.

He was crawling through "no-man's land" during a retreat from the German front lines when he saw his company commander, Captain Dubs, lying wounded.

He administered first-aid on the battlefield and attempted to pull the captain to safety before his life was taken by an enemy sniper bullet.

The captain wrote to Pte Peachment's mother after his death and the letter will be included in the sale.

He describes how, after he was hit by a bomb, Pte Peachment bandaged him in full sight of the enemy lines before being hit himself.

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