| AdminHistory | Corporal Kenneth Horsfield (GC) was born in Hyde on 30th September 1920. He joined the Manchester Regiment in 1940 and served with the 9th Battalion, later being seconded to the SAS. He served in Otaly preparing stores to be dropped to Yugoslav Partisan resistance forces. On 18 Aug 1944 he found himself the first man on the scene after an explosion at the demolition area of Military Establishment 54, Central Meditteranean Forces. The blast had killed three men and injured three others, leaving one man trapped inside the building. Corporal Horsfield attempted to enter the building to save the man, but the ferocity of the fire balzing inside was too great. Knowing a second explosion was imminent, he ordered the other men away from the building whilst using a fire extinguisher to stop the blaze reaching the trapped man, risking his own life. His funeral was attended by 350 people including a choir of 20 Yugoslavs. He was buried at the Bari War Cemetery. Kenneth was posthumously awarded the George Cross (GC), the highest award for conspicuous courage out of battle as published in the London Gazette on 23rd March 1945. On 7th April 1945 he featured as one of ten Personalities of the Week and People in the Public Eye in the Illustrated London News. He is the only person from Tameside to have received the George Cross. |
