THE iconic “six VCs before breakfast,” famously won by the Lancashire Fusiliers at Gallipoli, are set to be displayed together for the first time in 100 years.

They will form the centrepiece of a commemoration exhibition to be staged at the Fusilier Museum in Bury next April to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings. The museum is currently awaiting confirmation from one of the VC owners who was tracked down after some detective work by staff.

Earlier this year, the museum disclosed it was searching for a missing Victoria Cross which was awarded to Major Cuthbert Bromley who was a temporary major in the 1st Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers, during the World War One. He was awarded the UK’s highest military honour for valour for his actions on April 25, 1915, during the landings at W Beach, Gallipoli, Turkey.

The last record the museum had of the VC was when it was put up for auction in the late 1980s. But staff undertook family history and other research and the puzzle of the medal’s whereabouts was solved when it was located in Bromley, Kent.

Sarah Stevenson, collections officer at the Moss Street museum, said that talks were in progress over the medal coming to Bury to be part of the exhibition. “It has never happened before. It will be the first time in 100 years that all six Victoria Crosses will be together.”

The five other soldiers to be awarded a VC medal for their gallantry and bravery were: Corporal John Grimshaw, Lance Corporal William Kenealy, Sergeant Alfred Richards, Sergeant Frank Stubbs and Captain Richard Willis.

The medals which were awarded to Kenealy and Stubbs are in the possession of the Fusilier Museum while three others are owned by Lord Ashcroft, who has the world’s biggest collection of VCs.

Gallipoli, and the heroism displayed by the Lancashire Fusiliers, is celebrated each year with a Gallipoli Day march and church service in Bury, the spiritual home of the regiment.

HMS Euryalus was the name of the ship which transported Fusiliers to Gallipoli where on April 25, 1915, 11 officers and 350 men of the 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (LF) were killed or wounded as they stormed the heavily fortified W beach.

In the presence of so much heroism, the normal method of selection for awards failed and the LFs were allotted six Victoria Crosses and ordered to choose the recipients. The “six VCs before breakfast” has since been the regiment’s proud boast.

The battle of Gallipoli was launched between British and French forces to capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople and secure a sea route to Russia.

The landing at the Turkish beaches on the peninsula of Gallipoli saw the LFs experience heavy casualties with only 400 Fusiliers left to overwhelm enemy defences. Further honours awarded to the LFs included three Companion of the Bath, eight Distinguished Service Orders, 25 Distinguished Conduct Medals and 10 Military Crosses.

The exhibition of the six VCs at next year’s centenary of Gallipoli is expected to be a significant crowd-puller. Other events, so far unannounced, are also being planned to mark the 100th anniversary of the landings.