WATCH: Did you know Mansfield man who captured 50 soldiers single-handedly?

Lance Corporal Wilfrid Dolby Fuller was a former Mansfield Colliery miner who captured 50 enemy soldiers as they tried to escape along a communication trench.

Wilfrid Dolby Fuller VC, served in 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards.

His Victoria Cross citation from the London Gazette, on April 19, 1915 said describes how on March 1 that year at Neuve Chapelle,France, Wilfrid saw a party of the enemy trying to escape along a communication trench.

“He ran towards them, and killed the leading man with a grenade, “ the citation reads. “The remainder (approximately 50 men) seeing no means of evading his grenades, all surrendered to him. Lance Corporal Fuller was quite alone at the time.”

Born in East Kirkby, Wilfrid Fuller moved to Mansfield as a child. Prior to the war, he was a pony driver at the Mansfield Colliery, where his father also worked.

A keen footballer, he was a member of the Warsop Vale Church Choir and the Mansfield St Lawrence Bible Class. He served as a bugler in the Mansfield Cadet Corps, Greasley before joining the Grenadier Guards.

He received his Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace on June 4, 1915 after being given a hero’s welcome and Civic Reception in Mansfield.

He went on to serve in the police force in Somerset. He passed away on November 22, 1947 and is buried in Frome, Somerset.

Only six Nottinghamshire men recieved the Victoria Cross during the Great War, and the county council wants to find descendants of then all.

Councillor Kay Cutts, county council leader, said: “We want more people from all parts of the county to learn about and be inspired by their amazing and often emotional stories.”

Councillor Cutts said she would very much like the descendants of the soldiers to be part of the launch of the exhibition, although she was under no illusions that this will be a difficult task.

She said: “With so much time having passed and with some of the men having moved to different parts of the UK by the time of their death, it will be tough.

“But we hope local people and the media can help us in our search - I am sure their descendants are extremely proud of their actions and it would be great to hear and share the families memories.”