The family of a Victoria Cross hero have made his dying wish come true and buried him alongside his fallen comrades in South Korea.
Sergeant Bill Speakman was awarded the highest honour for gallantry for single-handedly taking on the enemy during a bloody battle in the Korean War in 1951.
He died last year aged 90 and it was his desire for his ashes be flown 5,500 miles back to the Far East to be interred in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea.
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Sgt Speakman, a giant of a man at 6ft 6ins tall, was in B Company of the 1st Battalion of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.
On November 4, 1951, he displayed ‘great gallantry and utter contempt for his own personal safety’ during the defence of Hill 217.
With his company overrun, he filled his pockets with hand grenades and led numerous charges against the enemy combatants while dodging heavy machine gun and mortar fire.
He inspired other soldiers to join him on the ridge, tossing anything they could find when the grenades ran out.
Sgt Speakman was seriously wounded in the leg and shoulder, but after quickly getting bandaged up, he went back to fight.
When it became clear his company was too depleted to fight on, he led yet more charges which bought time for his comrades to withdraw to safety.
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In a moving ceremony attended by the Chelsea Pensioner’s family and the British Ambassador to South Korea, he was laid to rest next to the 885 British soldiers who died in the conflict.
His daughter Susie Speakman said: “It is entirely fitting and in keeping with his wishes that our family should inter his ashes at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea, alongside 885 of his British comrades.”
Also present from the family were two of Sgt Speakman’s sons, Colin and Caspar, and his granddaughter Tuesdae.
British Ambassador Simon Smith said it was an ‘immense honour’ to attend the ceremony.
He said: “I first heard about the extraordinary courage of William Speakman VC when I was a nine year old student at primary school.
“More than 50 years later, it was an immense honour to meet Sergeant Speakman’s family and salute the return of his ashes to Korea in accordance with his wishes.
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“The service of William Speakman and 81,000 of his fellow British service personal, of whom 1,105 made the ultimate sacrifice, forged a bond between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom which endured to this day.”
Sgt Speakman, from Altrincham, Cheshire, was the first British soldier to be awarded a Victoria Cross by Queen Elizabeth II.
Due to financial hardship he sold the decoration in the 1960s and used the money to re-roof his house.
He later acquired a genuine replacement which is displayed in the National War Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle.
He was married and divorced three times and ended up as a Chelsea Pensioner in the Royal Hospital Chelsea for retired veterans.
