Renewed call to name Middleton street after town’s Victoria Cross hero

Julie Howarth, grand daughter of Middleton hero and VC Winner Joel Halliwell, will travel from Stockport and attend the Middleton Township meeting this Thursday to make a renewed call to name a street after her grandfather.

Lance Corporal Halliwell received the armed force's highest honour after rescuing 10 injured soldiers from no-man's land during the First World War, and the council has been urged to name a street in his honour - to create a lasting tribute to his heroism.

Rochdale Council has a policy in place for naming of streets/roads after our war heroes to create 'permanent reminders of the ultimate sacrifice' made by the borough's service men and women.

Chairman of the Lancashire Veterans Association Harry Mills, Originally from Langley, believes it would be a perfect way to honour L/Cpl Halliwell.

L/Cpl Halliwell signed up to the army just months after the outbreak of the war in 1914, becoming a solider in the 11th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers.

Four years later he performed a feat of astonishing courage that would earn him the Victoria Cross.

Under heavy enemy fire L/Cpl Halliwell repeatedly rode into no-man's land to save the lives of 10 injured colleagues

Councillor Alan McCarthy, the council's Armed Forces representative, also backed the call. He said: “It simply should happen - he should be remembered."