VETERAN heroes of the First World War who were honoured with the nation’s highest military award for bravery will be at the heart of commemorations next year to mark 100 years since the war started.

Events to mark the 100th anniversary of the Great War start in 2014, and the Government is to lay stones remembering every Victoria Cross award winner who served in the conflict – including men from York, Harrogate, Pickering and Pocklington.

A competition to design the Victoria Cross paving stones has been launched, and the stones will be given to local councils in the award winners’ birthplaces.

Among them will be York, the birthplace in 1890 of Lt Col Bertram Best-Dunkley. An officer in the 2/5th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, Col Best-Dunkley was killed near Ypres in July 1917 and awarded the VC posthumously for leading his men into assaults under heavy fire from machine guns and rifles.

In Pickering, a stone will be presented in memory of Tom Dresser, a 24-year-old private in the 7th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, who received the VC for getting an important message from the trenches to battalion headquarters, despite being wounded twice on the way.

In Harrogate two men – Charles Hull, and teacher and professional footballer Donald Bell – will be remembered, and in Pocklington a stone will be dedicated to the memory of Harry Wood, who as a 37-year-old corporal in France in 1918, took command of his platoon when his sergeant was killed, and risked sniper fire to see them safely take back a crucial river crossing.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the stones would connect present-day communities to their history.

“Laying paving stones to mark these Victoria Cross heroes will ensure that there is a permanent memorial to all the fallen who fought for our country and the competition is a great way for people from all corners of the United Kingdom to get involved.”

The four-year centenary commemorations will also include help for communities to restore and refurbish First World War memorials.