My name is Tony Higton and I have the privilege of being the Chairman of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross Committee.

In 1990 I started visiting the Western Front Battlefields and took a keen interest in all aspect of the Great War which included studying Victoria Cross recipients; I am also a member of the Western Front Association.

 I have during that time with Mr. Derek Price visited 360 Victoria Cross Holders Graves, across Belgium, France, America, and the UK. We have complete records and photographs of our visits, and we are happy to assist anyone who shares our interest.

 
In January 2005 I visited all of the Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross holders graves, and from there began the long journey along with a few friends and then members of the Humpston family to obtain a memorial headstone for Robert Humpston VC in the Nottingham General Cemetery.

This came to a successful conclusion in September 2007.

I must thank Mr. Derek Price and my son Peter a serving Sergeant in the Royal Air Force for all of their support from the very beginning, and again we have the complete records from the project inception, should anyone wish to view them.

 
In 2008 I was the project leader, for the team of people who gained a memorial for Charles Ernest Garforth VC again working with the family ie Garforth family, we obtained the memorial at the Wilford Hill cemetery.

On both of these projects letters of support were received from Buckingham Palace.

I now have the honour to be the Chairman of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross Committee, who are all totally dedicated to obtaining the memorial for the 20 Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross holders, who were either born in Nottingham or Nottinghamshire or laid to rest therin.

As the project has expanded and we have been delighted to have Dave Green the manager of Nottingham Castle come on board, along with Dianne McCutcheon, As we have progressed we now have The Lord Mayor of Nottingham Councillor Jeannie Packer, as a Patron along with Mike Gee MBE and Dot Gee MBE, who are all extremely dedicated and have done sterling work for the memorial, for which I and the committee are most grateful. I must mention the committee of Chris Stewart, Derek Price, Peter Higton, Ben Percival, Geoff Allen, and Norman Packer.

All of whom have done a sterling job and without whom this project would not happen. Indeed lifelong friendships have been formed, and we will move on to other things.

In conclusion our sincere thanks go out to the people of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire for their generosity and support without whom we would not be able to preserve this important part of our heritage, with this memorial.

Committee Member Derek Price

 I was born in Birmingham and moved to Nottinghamshire in 1971, I have lived in Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire since 1988 and prior to that in Bingham were I also worked for nearly thirty years.

 I first got to know Tony in 1987, I worked with him, and we have become great friends since then, and it was he who got me interested in the Great War, in 1999 we joined the Western Front Association, East Midlands Branch.

It was in 1999 when I first went over to France and Belgium, Tony took me to Ypres salient for the first of many trips, we travelled down over night and arrived when it was still dark, we parked up at a place called Sanctuary wood till it became light, we had a look around the cemetery which to me was a beautiful place, peaceful, well kept and well visited,  driving down the road I stopped the car and said look at that field it looks like it’s been snowing, it was just white over, Tony said that’s  Hooge crater cemetery, Patrick Budgen VC is in there,  that view will stay with me forever

Since then we have visited all the cemeteries in the Ypres Salient many times, and we have adopted the grave of an unknown soldier in Minty farm which we visit twice a year to lay a wreath to all of the fallen, also we have visited hundreds more cemetery’s as far down as Verdun, British, French, German, Indian, Polish, American & Chinese.

It was from these visit’s that we became interested in the Victoria Cross winners, Tony and I have to date visited over 370 graves of these very brave men, in the UK, France and Belgium, some of them many times.

Then in January 2005 Tony visited all the Victoria Cross Winners that are laid to rest in Nottinghamshire and discovered that that two had no headstones or memorials to them, (See Tony’s write up) Robert Humpston VC, headstone erected September 2007 and Charles Ernest Garforth VC, August 2008.

On 18th February  2009 The Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross Committee was set up, with the aim of erecting a memorial to Nottinghamshire’s VC recipients in the grounds of Nottingham Castle, the criteria was set firstly, they had to be born or laid to rest in Nottinghamshire .

 I worked in the background producing stationary, booklets etc, until June when I was asked to join the Committee, since then I have got to know many people that have now become great friends.

The project that we have been working on has given all of the committee a great sense of pride and we have got to know and talk to the some families of VC recipients, the support  people of Nottinghamshire have given us has been wonderful, along with local businesses who have spent a lot of time fundraising for us.

Currently we are just finishing of the project, still fund raising as we would like to set up a trust fund to look after the nine graves of Nottinghamshire VC winners in the future, we are collating all the paperwork  so it can be archived in Nottingham Castle for future generations to see.

Currently six of the committee are working together on a small project to replace the headstone of Sir Henry Wilmot VC and have gained permission and help from the family who we are in contact with, and will be meeting later on in the year.

SECRETARY – GEOFF ALLEN

In the mid 1990’s, I was appointed to the post of Superintendent & Registrar in the Cemeteries and Crematorium Section of Nottingham City Council, where I had responsibility for the day to day management of the many burial, cremation, and memorialisation services the Team provided.

It was whilst working in Bereavement Services that I first met Tony Higton in April 2007, after an ongoing enquiry made by him to a colleague was referred to me. I was subsequently able to help Tony secure the placement of a headstone on the previously unmarked, common grave of Robert Humpston VC, in Nottingham’s General Cemetery. I very much enjoyed my involvement in this project, as I have had a lifelong interest in history and things military.

Shortly after the completion of this project, I came into contact with Tony again. This time it was in connection with the provision and erection of a suitable memorial to the late Charles Ernest Garforth VC who had been cremated at Wilford Hill Crematorium, and whose cremated remains had been scattered in the nearby Garden of Rest. Once again, a very satisfactory outcome was achieved.

I took early retirement in the Autumn of 2008 but, in the following year, was approached by Tony and asked to become a member of the newly established Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross Committee which had been formally established in February 2009. This Committee was, “a  group of like minded people who had come together to raise awareness of the lives of the twenty recipients of the Victoria Cross who had been either born in Nottinghamshire, or laid to rest therein; to provide details of their last resting places, and to provide a fitting County Memorial in a prominent location.” I was delighted to have been asked, and joined forthwith. In the Spring of 2010, and following the resignation of the previous post holder, I agreed to act as Secretary to the Committee. I am pleased I did, as I very much enjoy working closely with my friends on the Committee, and in responding to the interesting challenges this secretarial post presents.

The culmination of the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross Memorial Project took place on the 7^th May 2010, and I was absolutely thrilled to have been part of the Team which had achieved the provision and erection of such an awesome memorial to honour the memory of twenty very brave men in the grounds of Nottingham Castle.

The Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Victoria Cross Committee is now winding down, and existing and future assets pertaining to this project will be used to establish an ongoing sinking fund to maintain all the VC memorials located in Nottinghamshire.

The work of the Group is, however, far from finished and before we reform under a new name in Autumn, the replacement of a badly eroded headstone on the grave of the late Sir Henry Wilmot VC in St. Mary’s Churchyard, Chaddesden, Derby, is to be actively pursued in conjunction with both the Wilmot family and the Church Authorities.

As one well known advert states, “It’s good to be part of a winning Team, “and I most certainly feel that way in having regard to my friends on the Committee, and what has been achieved!! Whatever we decide to do next, be it a major project or something less large, and whatever name change the Group decides upon to reflect revised aims or objectives, some things are certain – we will maintain our camaraderie, our sense of fun, and a determination to see any scheme embarked upon all the way through to completion!!

 So continue to keep an eye on the “Latest News “page of this website to see what we have been up to!!