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Victoria Cross hero gets blue plaque 107 years on

BBC WW1 photo of Frederick Room in his army uniform, fully buttoned up. He is wearing a standard-issue peaked cap, synonymous with WW1 soldiers. His name is written in scrawled pencil below the photo.BBC
Frederick Room received the Victoria Cross in 1917 for heroic actions at the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium

A First World War soldier who was awarded a Victoria Cross has been honoured with a blue plaque, 107 years after being given the award.

Lance Corporal (LCpl) Frederick Room, from St George in Bristol, was presented with his medal by King George V on 8 November 1917 at Durdham Down.

During the Battle of Passchendaele, he led a team of 2nd Royal Irish Battalion stretcher-bearers who continued to rescue the injured, even under heavy fire.

The blue plaque was unveiled at LCpl Room's former home, 24 Congleton Road, Bristol, in a ceremony on Friday morning.

Blue plaque with opened ceremonial curtains on either side. Plaque reads "Bristol Civic Society', Lance Corporal Frederick Room VC, 1895-1932, Awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery in the First World War when commanding his company of stretcher-bearers. He dressed and evacuated the wounded under intense fire and with complete disregard for his own life, showed unremitting devotion to his duties. Lived here 1911-1919.
LCpl Room's plaque was unveiled on Friday morning

Several members of LCpl Room's family joined the ceremony to celebrate the bravery he showed that day.

His great nephew, Martyn Kingscott, said: "We're really pleased and very proud and it's wonderful to be able to share it with the family - to come down and see it being unveiled."

Andrew Kingscott, also LCpl Room's great nephew, said: "It's really nice to see him recognised and I'm really proud."

Another relative, Jennifer Kingscott, who has compiled some research on LCpl Room, said: "It's very special to be here and to have the boys (LCpl Room's great nephews) here as well. It's lovely."

Four members of LCpl Room's family. A tall man in a grey jacket, a woman with red/blonde hair in a green coat with a poppy, a man in a grey sweatshirt with some medals pinned to it and an older man with a beard in a shirt and tie and coat, with a poppy pinned to it.
Members of LCpl Room's family, including Andrew Kingscott (left) Jennifer Kingscott (second from right) and Martyn Kingscott (right) with Dave Kingscott (front), attended the ceremony

Historian Jeremy Banning, who was at the ceremony, has been researching LCpl Room's life along with fellow historian Clive Burlton.

"He was involved in horrible conditions - mud, machine gun bullets, sniper fire and he worked with his team all day, bringing in wounded men, patching them up and taking them for evacuation," he said.

"He was awarded the ultimate honour, the Victoria Cross."

Historian Jeremy Banning. He is wearing a light blue shirt with a dark blue tie and a dark blue suit with a small poppy badge on the left lapel.
Historian Jeremy Banning worked with members of LCpl Room's family to make sure his story was told

LCpl Room's wartime heroics may have earned him a Victoria Cross but they also left him with long-term health problems.

His family said his lungs were badly affected by the poor conditions soldiers experienced on the Western Front and he died of pneumonia at the age of 36 in 1932.

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