A PERMANENT memorial to the bravery of a World War One soldier has been unveiled at a ceremony in Ilkley.

This morning civic dignitaries joined the family of Second Lieutenant Thomas Harold Broadbent Maufe for the installation of the memorial stone remembering his heroic acts during the Great War.

The event took place 100 years to the day that 19-year-old Second Lieutenant Maufe was awarded the Victoria Cross.

The stone was installed in Ilkley’s Memorial Gardens at a service attended by Lieutenant Maufe’s son Peter.

It is part of the Government initiative to honour Victoria Cross soldiers from the First World War

The citation for Lieutenant Maufe’s medal says: “Under intense artillery fire this officer on his own initiative repaired, unaided, the telephone line between the forward and rear positions, thereby enabling his battery to immediately open fire on the enemy.

“Second Lieutenant Maufe further saved what might have proved a most disastrous occurrence by extinguishing a fire in an advanced ammunition dump, caused by a heavy explosion, regardless of the risk he ran from the effects of gas shells which he knew were in the dump.

“By his great promptitude, resource and entire disregard of his own personal safety, he set an exceptionally fine example to all ranks.”

Peter Maufe said: “It is a very proud moment for the family. It is important we don’t forget the tragedies that happened in the war and that are still happening.”

Second Lieutenant Maufe was born in Ilkley in 1898, a son of the co-owner of the Brown Muff department store in Bradford. The family name later changed from Muff to Maufe.

He returned to Ilkley in 1929 married a local girl and eventually became director and secretary of Brown, Muff.

During World War Two, while serving in the Home Guard, he was killed when a trench mortar misfired during a training exercise.

Also attending yesterday’s event was Lord Mayor of Bradford Councillor Abid Hussain. He said: “The people who are commemorated here, their memory will never fade. It is important we remember the people who protect our communities and our country and pass their memory from generation to generation.

“It is wonderful to be here this morning to honor someone who was willing to give his life for his country.”