There is a corner of a Wiltshire field that is now forever a tribute to the brave men from Milton Lilbourne who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War.

As Remembrance Sunday approaches, parishioners of the village in the Vale of Pewsey will reflect on the courage of their 11 warriors who have each been commemorated with the planting of a copper beech tree.

One day the trees will grow to 60ft and the memorial at the top of Milton Hill will be seen across the vale, commemorating James Head, Archibald Ware VC, Maurice Deadman, Sidney Ware, John Drewitt, Charles Stagg, William Underwood, George Waite, Percy Styles and Ernest Ensor.

Paul Oatway, chairman of Milton Lilbourne Parish Council, explained the trees were planted as part of a number of memorials to the men of the village. “As we move towards Remembrance Sunday, the parishioners of Milton Lilbourne will again reflect on the numerous commemorations that MLPC and the community put in place to mark the 100th year commemorations of the end of the First World War,” he said.

“The parish strangely had no war memorial. To rectify this, parishioners purchased a seven-tonne Sarcen Stone from the Vale of Pewsey which was embedded on the bank in the village street.

“A parishioner kindly donated appropriate railings to embrace the memorial. Since its creation, after the church service at St Peter’s parishioners have held their own festival of remembrance at the memorial, reflecting on the 11 men from this parish who fell in the Great War. Those men were from numerous regiments of the British Army and fell at places all over the globe.

“To support this memorial, the parish council, supported by villagers and sponsors, planted on Milton Hill eleven trees on a permissive footpath. These trees are protected by individual tree guards, donated by a parishioner, with the names of the fallen embedded on the guards.”

Cliff Spanswick, a resident who helped organise the planting and whose family have lived in the village for generations, said the trees, one of which is in tribute to his great uncle George Waite, were chosen as a memorial to provoke respectful thought.

“As they grow and mature they will be seen from miles away and will a talking point for years to come. They are in a fabulous location, it is a beautiful walk up there,” he said.

“My great grandparents ran the old post office here during the Great War. It was to the post office that the telegrams came of the tragic news to be passed on to local families. Their son George was killed at Beaumont-Hamel on the Somme.”

Cpl Ware VC served with the 1st Battalion, the Seaforth Highlanders. He was wounded in France and again in Mesopotamia, now Iraq. It was there that he won his Victoria Cross on April 6, 1916.

During a firefight when the order was given to withdraw and under heavy fire, for two hours Cpl Ware rescued all of his wounded colleagues, carrying them one at a time 200 yards to safety.

He was never presented with his medal because days later, he was seriously wounded and died on April 16, aged just 23. He is buried in the Amara War Cemetery in Iraq.