Rookie Belle Isle soldier Kane Clamp has some big military boots to fill.
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email alerts from Middleton Today.The 17-year-old is the newest recruit to the Yorkshire Regiment after signing up to be an infantryman, stirred by the heroics of his great uncle.
Corporal William Clamp was awarded the highest military honour – the Victoria Cross – for his valour on the foreign fields of the Great War.
Bombs
On October 9 1917, Cpl Clamp was with the 6th Yorkshires, when the advance at Poelcapelle, near Passchendaele, Belgium, was slowed by German machine gun fire.
* Click here for latest Middleton, Hunslet & Belle Isle news.He picked out the largest concrete pillbox and set off with two men.
Cpl Clamp got near enough to throw his Mills bomb hand grenades, but his companions were hit and he dragged them both back to safety.
He collected another two grenades and two more men and returned to the pillbox.
* Click here for Middleton Today's Community Directory, where you will find basic information on a wide range of local community groups and organisations in Middleton, Hunslet and Belle Isle.He hurled the grenades and disappeared – re-emerging carrying
a German machinegun and with a large number of prisoners.
Cpl Clamp, from Motherwell in Scotland, continued to attack the strong German positions until he was shot by a sniper while trying to capture another machinegun post. His name is carved on the Memorial to the Dead at Tyne Cot cemetery, near Ypres in Belgium.
In 2005, Kane's cousin, Carl Clamp, who joined 40 Regiment Royal Artillery, had the Victoria Cross in his pocket for good luck throughout his Passing Out parade.
The Victoria Cross is awarded for valour in the face of the enemy to members of the Armed Forces.
It was introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856, with Kane's great uncle one of just over 1,000 soldiers ever to receive it.
Kane said: "Seeing the Victoria Cross that my great uncle achieved in the war was a very humbling moment and confirmed my intent in joining the Army.
"I decided to literally follow in his footsteps by enlisting into The Yorkshire Regiment and know if my career is even half as successful as his, I can be proud of myself."
Kane is now preparing to embark on the Combat Infantryman's Course at the Army's Infantry Training Centre (ITC) in Catterick.
The 26-week training is split into two phases and will teach him field craft, live firing, communications, drill, map reading, and further progressive fitness training in addition to major exercises.
Major Graham Milson, area recruiting officer for West Yorkshire, said: "Kane's great uncle showed bravery in the face of adversity in the First World War, something I don't doubt that has been passed on to Kane.
"To become a successful Infantryman takes a lot of hard work and determination and requires you to overcome the mental and physical challenges that prepare for life in the field.
"Kane has shown he has what it takes for what is undoubtedly the most exciting and action-packed of all the 140 careers available within the army. I am looking forward to seeing how he progresses throughout his army life."