Thomas Steele (VC)

He rallied his men and held a gun in action despite a wound.

Thomas Steele was born at Saddleworth on 6 February 1891. A mill worker, he enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders in 1911. He served in France from 1914 and later went to Mesopotamia, becoming a sergeant in January 1917.

At Sannaiyat on 22 February 1917, Steele helped carry a machine gun forward and kept it firing during an enemy counterattack. When another attack endangered the line, he rallied wavering men and led them forward despite severe wounds. His leadership earned the Victoria Cross.

After hospital treatment in India, Steele returned to Britain and was demobilised in 1919. He married in 1922 and worked for Central Motors at Leicester. He also served in the Territorial Army and returned during the Second World War as a Royal Artillery battery sergeant major. He died at Springhead, Oldham, on 11 July 1978 and was cremated locally.