Captain Richard Annand of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was awarded the first VC of the Second World War.

He attacked a German position on the River Dyle, Belgium, with hand grenades, delaying the enemy advance, in May 1940.

The site has never been marked, despite 35 Allied servicemen losing their lives trying to hold the river.

Later this month, 27 DLI veterans will travel to Belgium to unveil a plaque which carries the names of those killed, and an inscription detailing Capt Annand's heroic deeds.

The plaque has been paid for by the DLI Association and residents of the Belgian district of Grez Doiceau.

It will be unveiled by the Count and Countess De Liederkerke, on whose land the river flows.

Capt Annand's nephew, Sir David Chapman, will lay a wreath.

John Davis, president of the South Shields branch of the DLI Association, said: "We were interested in setting up a memorial, and when we talked to the people in Belgium, they were too.

"It is a lovely setting in the countryside, but there is nothing there to mark where 35 DLI people lost their lives.

"The Belgians are very friendly and supportive. The older ones are still very grateful for Britain's involvement."

Capt Annand lost nearly all his hearing during his military service, and was invalided out of the Army in 1948.

He devoted the rest of his working life to helping the deaf, and was personnel officer at the Finchale Abbey Training Centre for the Disabled, near his home in Durham City, until he retired in 1979.

Capt Annand died in 2004, aged 90.