Tribute unveiled to West Bromwich Victoria Cross hero

The memorial at the foot of the cenotaph in Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich, honours Captain Robert Phillips.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross for outstanding bravery in rescuing his wounded commanding officer under ferocious fire in the Mesopotamia campaign.

The ceremony to unveil the tribute was in front of veterans, school children and proud family members.

Reverend Dwayne McQuaid led Wednesday's ceremony and told the gathered crowd: "The courage and devotion he showed is an inspiration to us all."

The soldier's grandson, 50-year-old Howard Forti, from Surrey, unveiled the memorial stone.

Wreaths were then laid by the West Midlands' High Sheriff Dr Keith Bradshaw, Sandwell mayor Councillor Julie Webb, members of the Royal British Legion and local veterans' groups.

There was applause for a touching musical tribute by the choir of nearby Eaton Valley Primary School, who sang Remember.

The service took place just a mile from foundry worker son Captain Phillips' former home in Hill Top where he was born in 1895.

After attending King Edwards VI Grammar School, in Aston, Birmingham, he embarked on a 40-year career with the Inland Revenue, interrupted only by his war service.

In 1913 he was transferred to the department's London office where he enlisted in March 1914 with the 1st/15th Company of the London Regiment.

Six months later he was commissioned in the 13th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment but was attached to the 9th Battalion as a temporary lieutenant, later promoted to the rank of captain.

He was wounded at Gallipoli in 1915 but went on to become involved, the following year, in fierce fighting against the Turkish army near Kut, in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.

On the January 25, 1917, a Turkish counter attack had driven the leading British troops out of their trenches.

Colonel Edward Henderson, his commanding officer, was severely wounded during the battalion's assault to regain the British position.

Lieutenant Phillips had been trying to lay telephone cables with a team of signallers who were killed in the attempt.

He turned his attention to rescuing Col Henderson where he lay wounded in No Man's Land.

After several attempts made under intense fire, he succeeded with his comrade, Corporal Scott, in bringing Col Henderson back to the British lines.

His Victoria Cross citation praised him for showing 'sustained courage in its very highest form.'

Unusually, in May 1918, Capt Phillips was transferred at his own request to the RAF to become a pilot but the war ended before he was able to fulfil his wish.

Following the armistice, he returned home and married Beatrice Brockhouse, a domestic science teacher from Hill Top, with whom he had two children, Michael and Rachel, who was Mr Forti's mother, and resumed his tax office job. He died in 1968 in Cornwall, where the family had moved.

His elder brother Sid had been killed at the Battle of the Somme in September 1916 while his younger brother Gus also survived the war after joining the Royal Artillery at the end of 1916 when he was 18.

The unveiling was also attended by Capt Phillips' nephew Peter Phillips, 76, of Halesowen, niece Catherine Smith, 72, of Kington, near Worcester and his great-niece Peggy Amos, 65, from Birmingham. Mr Phillips, a retired bank official, of Manor Abbey Road, said: "It's difficult to put into words what this means to me because I knew him well.

"But the difficulty for us was that he and my father never talked about the war.

"He didn't dwell on the past but I think he would be pleased about today."

The memorial was paid for by the government which is funding similar tributes for all First World War Victoria Cross recipients.