Great War driver from Epsom won France's highest honour for rescuing soldiers under shell fire 100 years ago

Driver Sydney Martin, from Pikes Hill, Epsom, won the French equivalent of the Victoria Cross - the Medaille Militaire - for his actions on September 15, 1914, in Aisne, France.

Dvr Martin, from I Cavalry Field Ambulance, showed great courage when he first dressed the wounds of the badly French officers and then carried them to safety while under heavy bombardment.

Bourne Hall Museum assistant David Brooks said: "The danger can only be imagined, but by a miracle neither Martin nor his companions were hit but his horses were killed and ambulance blown to pieces.

"They got to where the two men lay wounded but found, to make matters worse, that they could not be removed until their wounds had been dressed. All the time the shells continued to fall around them."

Dvr Martin carried the men to safety and a few days later he was decorated on the battlefield by King George V.

He returned to a hero’s welcome in Epsom. Despite having been apprenticed to a racehorse trainer before the war, he gave up working with horses and became a council street cleaner.

Later in life as an elderly man, he told his grandson: "When I tried to rescue those poor men I was treading on the arms and legs of others who had been blown to pieces.

"I couldn’t help it but the whole ground was covered with parts of soldiers and horses.

"I cried then because my horses were killed and for all the other horses because they didn’t know why they were there or what had happened.

"At least the soldiers knew what they were fighting for and were do their bit for their country."

His discharge paper said: "Throughout he proved himself a man of the highest character and on all occasions showed the greatest courage and perseverance in action."

Dedicate a tree for £20 to someone lived or served in the First World War.

Call 0800 915 1914 or go to www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/mylocalpaper