Company Sergeant MajorGeorge Harold Eardley VC, MM (6 May 1912 – 11 September 1991) was a British Army soldier and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Brother of Arnold Eardley and Elgin Eardley.
On 16 October 1944 east of Overloon, the Netherlands, Sergeant Eardley's platoon was ordered to clear some orchards where a strong opposition was holding up the advance, but 80 yards (73 m) away from the objective the platoon was halted by automatic fire from machine-gun posts. Sergeant Eardley spotted one of these posts and moving forward under heavy fire killed the occupants at the post with a grenade. He went on to destroy two more posts single-handed, under fire so intense that it daunted those who were with him, but his action enabled the platoon to achieve its objective and thus ensured the success of the whole attack.[5]
^"No. 36870". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1944. p. 139.
^"Grave Locations for Holders of the Victoric Cross in the County of Cheshire". victoriacross.org. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
^"Sgt George Eardley Vc". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 9 March 2022.