AN Oxford doctor who repeatedly ventured into no man’s land to save the lives of soldiers during the First World War will be honoured next year.

Captain Noel Chavasse, who attended Magdalen College School, is the only person ever to have received two Victoria Crosses (VCs) during the Great War.

The Government will mark the war’s 100th anniversary next year by creating paving stones to remember those who received VCs during the conflict.

The stones will then be handed over to local councils in the area that the VC recipient lived to be installed.

Mary Chavasse, whose late husband John was the nephew of Captain Chavasse, said: “His achievements were absolutely amazing.

“He must have been a very brave man and a hugely dedicated Christian doctor.

“I do not think many people today would suffer going through those awful trenches as he did.”

Capt Chavasse was born on November 9, 1884, in the family home in New Inn Hall Street, 20 minutes before his twin brother Christopher, who became the Bishop of Rochester and founded St Peter’s College in Oxford.

Their father, the Rev Francis Chavasse, was Rector of St Peter-le-Bailey, now the chapel of St Peter’s College, and later became the first Bishop of Liverpool.

Capt Chavasse, who represented Great Britain in the 400 metres of the 1908 London Olympics with his brother, attended Trinity College, Oxford, in 1904 and, after graduating with a first in medicine, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1913.

He received his first VC for his actions on August 9, 1916 at the Battle of Guillemont, France, for repeatedly venturing into no man’s land under heavy fire to rescue wounded soldiers.

Capt Chavasse, who had six siblings including twin sisters who became Britain’s oldest twins when they turned 100 in 1986, was injured during the battle but by 1917 was back at the frontline.

At the Third Battle of Ypres, despite being seriously injured, he defied orders to withdraw and worked with a captured German medic to save lives.

He was killed when a shell hit his base and he died in hospital two days later.

He was posthumously awarded a second VC – or a bar – the only person to win the medal twice during the First World War and one of only three ever to do so, for his bravery. He is believed to be commemorated by more war memorials in the UK than any other individual.

His medals, which had been left by his family to St Peter’s College, Oxford, were bought by Lord Ashcroft in 2009 for a record price of £1.5m. They are now displayed in the Imperial War Museum.

Capt Chavasse was remembered in a set of stamps marking the 150th anni-versary of the Victoria Cross in 2006.

A blue plaque was installed in his honour at Magdalen College School but the original plaque, deemed too small and replaced, now sits in Mrs Chavasse’s dining room in Hayward Road.

She said: “It is very good that they are being remembered.”

Mrs Chavasse’s husband John, who died last year aged 87, set the crosswords in The Oxford Times for many years.

The Government said the paving stones will be designed through a national competition. The winning design will be announced in October.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “Laying paving stones to mark these Victoria Cross heroes will ensure there is a permanent memorial to all the Fallen who fought for our country.

“The competition is a great way for people from all corners of the United Kingdom to get involved.”

No details have yet been published about where the stones will be laid.