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Thieves steal war hero's plaque

Updated on 25th January 2012

A plaque honouring the bravery of a Worksop war hero has been stolen.

The brass plaque, which was affixed to a stone in Worksop Memorial Park, in Memorial Avenue, was stolen between 4pm on 19 January and 9am on Friday 20 January 2012. 

It is believed offenders took the plaque with the intention to sell it for scrap. They would only get £10 in return.

The plaque honours William Henry Johnson, a Victoria Cross medal-winner who was born in Worksop in 1890 and served with the Sherwood Foresters.

On 3 October 1918 at Ramicourt in France, Sergeant Johnson single-handedly charged a machine gun emplacement, capturing two of the machine guns.

Despite being severely wounded during the attack he went on to make another solo attack, silencing more enemy machine guns.

Sergeant Johnson died in Arnold, in April 1945, and is buried in Redhill cemetery.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Sherwood Foresters Museum at Nottingham Castle.

PC Mario Wiznycia said: “This theft is such a disrespectful act.

“The plaque is priceless, being of great sentimental value to Sergeant Johnson’s family and the wider community of Worksop.”

Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the plaque or has any information about the culprits is asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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