A SCHOOL will pay tribute to a former pupil who is the only soldier to be awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) medal for bravery during a naval battle.

War veterans and children will honour Sergeant Thomas Durrant during a day of celebrations at Green Street Green Primary School in Vine Road on April 1.

Sgt Durrant was given the medal posthumously for his heroics during the St Nazaire raid in France in March 1942.

The 23-year-old manned a gun onboard a ship and kept firing at the enemy despite being fatally shot in the head, chest, arms and legs.

Staff and pupils at the school will be wearing 1940s clothing, and activities will include a flag waving parade as war veterans walk around the school.

A school spokesman said: "In addition to members of Sergeant Durrant’s family, invited guests will include the Mayor of Bromley Councillor George Taylor, the president of the Commando Veterans Association Brigadier Jack Thomas CBE, and Desiree Roderick MBE representing the St Nazaire Society.

"The Orpington Branch of the Royal British Legion will be represented by the branch chairman Geoff Haisell.

"There will be a band, and the school children will also have the opportunity to meet several Second World War commando veterans."

Sgt Durrant’s medal is on display at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham.

He was among 622 men from the Royal Navy and Army Commandos who took part in the raid on March 28, during which 169 were killed and 215 taken prisoner.

His niece, Patricia Evered, said: “During the battle he became so severely wounded he could no longer stand, so he had himself strapped to the gun in order to keep firing.

“He refused to surrender or give up. He eventually died, riddled with gunfire, from his wounds on the dock at St Nazaire. The German commander said he had never witnessed such bravery.”

Sgt Durrant grew up in Kingsley Road and attended Green Street Green Primary School before enlisting in the Royal Engineers aged 18.

He is buried at La Baule cemetery in St Nazaire.