Search for Southport war hero's family to renovate grave

An appeal has been launched to find the relatives of a Victoria Cross war hero who helped save 200 lives in a bid to renovate his grave.

Pte Richard George Masters won Britain's most prestigious honour after driving an ambulance under heavy fire to rescue injured soldiers in World War One.

He died aged 86 in 1963 and was buried at his home of Southport, Merseyside.

A charity wants to spruce up his grave at St Cuthbert's Church Cemetery.

Pte Masters was 41 when he helped save about 200 wounded soldiers in a place known as Hell Fire Corner near Bethune in France on 9 April 1918.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross "for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty".

The citation told how despite the road being "impassable" and communications being cut off, Pte Masters "volunteered to try and get through, and after the greatest difficulty succeeded, although he had to clear the road of debris".

He went back and forth to rescue the injured repeatedly "over a road consistently shelled and swept by machine gun fire and was, on one occasion, bombed by an aeroplane".

Pte Masters' vehicle was the only one that got through and he was credited for evacuating many of the wounded.

He he was said to have commented how it was "all in a day's work".

The Veterans ln Sefton charity said they could only make improvements to his grave if they gain permission from his relatives.

Anyone with information can contact the charity here.

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