THE exceptional deeds of 11 brave servicemen are to be permanently recognised at their regiment's museum.

All 11 Durham Light Infantry soldiers honoured with the highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross, feature on a lasting tribute to be unveiled tomorrow.

The names of the 11, stretching over many campaigns and several generations, have been inscribed on a sandstone rock specially hewn from Stainton Quarry, near Barnard Castle.

They appear on an inscription on the stone, alongside a replica of the Victoria Cross and a DLI badge set in glass bubbles by experts at Sunderland's National Glass Centre.

The stone will be seen by thousands of visitors to the DLI Museum, in Durham, every year.

The roll of honour will be unveiled in the museum grounds tomorrow at a ceremony attended by about 300 ex-DLI and other servicemen, plus members of the public.

Regimental trustee, Brig-adier Robin MacGregor-Oakford, awarded the Military Cross for valour while serving in Korea in 1952, will unveil the stone.

He will be joined by the sole surviving DLI VC winner, Captain Richard Annand, who is 86 and still living in Durham.

Other dignitaries include County Durham's Lord Lieutenant, Sir Paul Nicholson, and county council chairman Charles Magee.

Standards from 14 regimental association branches will be paraded, backed by the music of the Borneo Band of the 1st DLI Army Cadet Force.

After the stone is unveiled, the Reverend Brian Rawson will conduct a short service, followed by the bugles sounding the Last Post and Reveille.

Proceedings will be completed by Brig MacGregor-Oakford and Capt Annand taking the salute in a march past by guests.

During the ceremony a guard of honour will be given to the stone by members of the 68th Regiment of Foot Re-enactment Society in their traditional red tunics.

The 68th Foot, recruited in County Durham, was the forerunner to the DLI, which came into being in 1881.

Known as the Faithful Durhams, members of the 68th Foot and the DLI earned a reputation for their tough fighting qualities and loyalty, across many fields of battle round the world.

Although only 11 earned the highest medal for valour, countless companions have been recognised with other accolades for their brave deeds serving King, Queen and country.

The Celebration Stone, as it has been dubbed, was the brainchild of the DLI veterans' group, The Faithful Inkerman Dinner Club, whose members raised the necessary funds.

Club chairman Colin Armstrong said tomorrow's ceremony marks the culmination of a project which began about eight years ago when the unmarked grave of DLI VC holder Private Thomas Kenny, was discovered in Wingate Cemetery.

"We were asked to raise money for a headstone and then we decided it would be a good idea to have a plaque in honour of all of the VC holders.

"The DLI Museum invited us to place it in their grounds where it can be seen by everyone coming into the museum."

Regimental historian, DLI Museum building manager Steve Shannon, said it was a fitting tribute not just to the 11 VC winners, but to the valour of the thousands who served with the DLI until it was disbanded as a full-time regiment, in 1968.

"This continues the link between the county and the regiment and when the Faithful Inkerman Dinner Club came to us and asked if they could put it up outside the museum the answer was a resounding 'yes'.

"Every visitor here will see the names of the men. These 11 are just a representative sample. Many more could have been named for other acts of bravery."

About 12,000 DLI men were killed in the First World War and 3,000 in the Second World War.

Mr Shannon estimates that with wounded and PoWs taken into consideration the figure rises to about 40,000 casualties of the two world wars alone.