VICTORIA Cross hero George Strong was honoured 127 years after his death on Sunday by his historic regiment the Coldstream Guards along with family members including his great, great grandson.

A 12 strong group from the Bristol branch of the Coldstream Guards Association attended a poignant service at the Church of the Holy Cross in Sherston where George is buried in an unmarked grave.

Branch president Lieutenant Colonel Martin Somervell MBE presented the church with a framed display board in honour of Private Strong’s 'conspicuous act of bravery' during the Crimean War that will go on permanent show at the church.

A member of 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, George was just 19 in September, 1855 when he saved the lives of many comrades at Sevastopol by picking up a live shell that had fallen into their trench and hurling it over the parapet.

Among the very first group of soldiers to receive a VC from Queen Victoria in Hyde Park in 1857 George, from Yeovil, returned from the war to marry Wiltshire girl Eliza Dickenson.

They settled in Sherston Magna where George lived for the rest of his life. Following his death at 52 on August 24, 1885, he was buried at Sherston churchyard without a headstone.

For 33-year-old stone waller Steve Strong, of Filands in Malmesbury, Sunday’s hour-long service and presentation was an especially proud, moving and memorable occasion.

As a boy he had been aware of his great, great grandfather’s act of heroism – initially in 1986 when a memorial was put up in honour of George Strong next to the grave of his son Thomas, who died in 1936.

Mr Strong, who was accompanied by several family members including his aunt Pauline Curthoys, of nearby Shipton Moyne, who is George’s great granddaughter, said: “It was a fantastic occasion.

“It gave me a real sense of pride as to what my great, great grandfather did all those years ago. It was quite emotional occasion on Sunday – almost surreal.”

The Coldstream Guards Association also presented Mr Strong with a framed copy of the display plaque which tells the story of George Strong and contains his only known photograph along with an image of his medals and his VC citation.

“This is something I will treasure,” said Mr Strong, who grew-up in Easton Grey and attended Sherston School.

Mr Strong, whose wife Geraldine is expecting their first child in October, added: “It would be lovely to keep the plaque in the family for generations.”

The church was also delighted to possess a George Strong framed display board as it occasionally received visitors looking for the VC winner’s grave or memorial.

The Bristol branch of the Coldstream Guards Association honoured Private’s Strong’s memory after only recently becoming aware of his Sherston memorial.

Chairman Steve Hawkins said: “It was a fantastic occasion on Sunday. There were members of George Strong’s family and also relatives of his wife Eliza Dickenson.

“People visiting George’s memorial at Sherston church will now be able to read what he did to earn his Victorian Cross and see what he looked like.”