The shed cleaner who was awarded Victoria Cross for bravery

When World War One broke out in 1914, Wilfred Wood was working on the railways as a shed cleaner.

But by the end of 1916, he had enlisted in the Cheshire Regiment of the British Army where he trained as a stretcher bearer to collect the wounded from the battlefields.

He was then transferred to the 10th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers where he would later take part in one of the last battles of the World War One involving British soldiers fighting in Italy.

The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought from 24 October to 3 November 1918 and was seen as a decisive victory that contributed to the end of the war.

Mark Smith, who is a medals specialist at Stanley Gibbons Baldwins, said Wood went above and beyond what was expected of him and used his own initiative when his unit was held up by hostile machine guns and snipers.

"His company comes under machine-gun fire from the right flank…and he tries to get himself and his company out of the problem," said Smith.

"This should be an officer organising this stuff, but no, he does this on his own.

"What he does is he gets a machine gun called a Lewis gun.

"He works his way forward with the gun and he gets on to the edge of them.

"It's called enfilade fire so he's not firing directly at them.

"He's firing at them now from the side and he puts down such an enormous amount of fire, 140 of the enemy surrender."

Smith said the unit continued forward but when a hidden machine gun opened fire at point blank range, Wood did not hesitate.

"With no thought of safety for himself and completely on his own he charged the machine gun on his own, firing his machine gun from the hip," said Smith.

"He killed the machine gun crew and then without further orders again he gets into a ditch he opens fire and this time three officers and 160 men surrendered to him."

Wood was awarded the Victoria Cross for "conspicuous valour and initiative of this gallant soldier in the face of intense rifle and machine gunfire".

But Smith said it came at great personal cost.

"The Victoria Cross, whilst it is an unbelievable achievement, the highest award for bravery we could ever give anybody, you also have to remember that it's also probably the most dreadful day they ever lived through," he said.

"Every time he goes to bed and he closes his eyes...he's got to relive that moment again and again."

After the war, Wood returned home and continued working on the railways for 46 years and he later had a locomotive named after him.

Wood died on 3 January 1982 and was cremated at Stockport Crematorium on 8 January 1982.

His ashes were scattered in the Garden of Remembrance and his Victoria Cross medal is in a private collection.

There is also a black metal plaque outside Stockport railway station is in memory of Wood, who is the subject of a new episode of Hidden Manchester on BBC Sounds.

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