THE Duke of Edinburgh will be in Devizes on Thursday to officially open a care home named in honour of First World War hero Reginald Hayward.

Prince Philip will unveil a commemorative plaque at Hayward Care Centre, Horton Road, at 11.15am as he is heralded by buglers from The Rifles regiment.

Mr Hayward was an acting captain in the 1st battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment, in the First World War when he was awarded the Victoria Cross. The Wiltshire Regiment has been amalgamated and is now part of The Rifles of which The Duke of Edinburgh is Colonel-in-Chief.

Mr Hayward was given the award for his heroic and almost superhuman powers of endurance from March 21-22, 1918, near Fremicourt, France.

Despite being buried, wounded in the head and rendered deaf on the first day of operations, in addition to having his arm shattered and receiving a third serious injury to his head from a bazooka, he refused to leave his men until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

Hayward also served in the anti-aircraft command, part of the Royal Army Service Corps, during the Second World War.

He was commander of prisoner of war camps from 1945 to 1947, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The Orders of St John Care Trust, which runs the care home, announced last year it would honour the hero by naming the 80 bed centre in his honour.

At the time Dan Hayes, OSJCT’s operations director, said: "Reginald Hayward is a true British hero and a man very worthy of being remembered, having not only earned the Victoria Cross, but also the Military Cross and Bar.

The new home has replaced Anzac House in Moonrakers and Southfield in Victoria Road. It offers residential and specialist dementia care, with a dementia nursing unit planned to open later this year.

Among those welcoming the Duke will be Lord Lieutenant for Wiltshire Sarah Troughton, High Sheriff Lady Gooch, chairman of Wiltshire Council Roy While, Devizes Mayor Sarah Bridewell, police and crime commissioner Angus Macpherson, chief constable Patrick Geenty and OSJCT chairman Don Wood.

The last time the Duke was in Devizes was in May 2004 when, aged 83, he took the reigns of the Wadworth shire horses to mark the 30th anniversary of the brewery reintroducing horses to pulling drays around the town.