War heroes have been remembered for their ‘gallantry of the highest order’ in ceremonies to salute the centenary of the Great War.

Lance-Corporal John Alexander Christie from Upper Edmonton and Captain Alastair McReady-Diarmid from New Southgate were awarded the Victoria Cross for their fearlessness in World War One.

Two separate special services celebrating the soldiers’ achievements have been planned as part of a national campaign which will see paving slabs presented to their home boroughs.

The first service and special slab unveiling was for Captain McReady-Diarmid at Grove Road open space on Friday December 1 at 11am.

Captain McReady-Diarmid was born in 1888 in Grove Road.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross for the way he responded to an enemy attack on November 30 and December 1 at Moeuvres Sector, France.

On these two days the captain led his company in a fight with the enemy, successfully driving them back, taking 27 prisoners and causing many casualties.

A bomb killed Captain McReady-Diarmid in battle.

The unveiling of Lance Corporal Christie’s paving slab is on Wednesday December 6 at Pymmes Park.

Lance Corporal Christie was born on May 14, in 1895, in Warwick Road, Upper Edmonton.

After enlisting in the army in September 1914 he served in Gallipoli before going to fight in Palestine.

It was at Fejja in Palestine on December 21 and 22 in 1917 that Lance Corporal Christie earned his Victoria Cross.

When he saw that the enemy had captured a key military position and were advancing rapidly the soldier took a supply of bombs along the communication trench to launch a bombing raid.

His actions cleared a difficult position and saved lives.

Lance Corporal Christie passed away on September 10, 1967, in Bramhall, Cheshire.

Cllr Doug Taylor, Enfield Council leader, said: “The bravery and sacrifice shown by Enfield’s Victoria Cross winners is humbling and it is right and proper that the communities in which these brave men were raised should celebrate their bravery.

“Both Alastair McReady-Diarmid and John Alexander Christie are heroes, whose deeds will live long in the memory and inspire today’s generation for many years to come.

“We owe it to the memory of both of these heroes to work collectively as a borough and a nation towards building strong communities and a lasting peace across the world where everyone can live together in harmony so that nations no longer have to send their young men and women to fight wars on foreign fields.

Lance Sergeant Behamy, who was awarded the Victoria Cross on March 18, 2005, for saving fellow members of the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment from ambushes at Al-Amarah, in Iraq, on May 1 and June 11, in 2004, was at Captain Allastair McReady-Diarmid's ceremony on December 1.

He sustained serious head injuries in the second ambush on June 11, and was formally given his medal on April 27, 2005.