There are at least nine VC winners commemorated on Shropshire war memorials (see my post below for details). All earned their reward for outstanding valour and courage but perhaps the best known of them is Cpt John Brunt. His reputation for inspired leadership, personal bravery, coolness under fire and lack of concern for his own safety earned him a place in history as a real 'Boys Own' hero.
He was born in the tiny south Shropshire hamlet of Priestweston on 6th Dec 1922 and educated at Ellesmere College. When the 2WW broke out he was commissioned into the Sherwood Forestors. Respected by his men for his determination and courage, he was awarded the MC and then a posthumous VC for gallantry shown in action near Faenza, Italy just days after his 22nd birthday. His citation records: "...the house near which Capt. Brunt's Platoon was dug in was destroyed by intense mortar fire. The Captain, rallying his remaining men ... continued to hold the enemy although heavily outnumbered. Personally firing a Bren gun, he killed about 14 and then, his ammunition exhausted, he fired a Piat and 2-inch mortar left by casualties. This aggressive defence allowed him to re-occupy his previous position and get his wounded away."
The Germans retreated but the next day Brunt was drinking a cup of tea when a mortar shell fell at his feet killing him outright. There are a number of memorials to him. In Paddock Wood, where his parents lived, the pub was re-named the 'John Brunt VC' and remained so until the 1990s and there is a beautiful rose-window to his memory in the church there. In Shropshire, the John Brunt Memorial Cricket Pavilion at Ellesmere College was opened in 1970 and, more recently, the Shropshire War Memorial Association arranged for a small plaque to his memory to be placed in a road-side wall at Priestweston. For more information you can follow this link:
