A new headstone was dedicated at the graveside of Samuel Harvey at Ipswich Old Cemetery. He died penniless on 23rd September 1960, aged 79, in the former workhouse at Stow Lodge Hospital, Stowmarket, Suffolk, where he had been a patient for 16 months. His only possessions were his VC miniature medal group which were next to his pillow.

Samuel Harvey was a 34-year-old private in the 1st Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment during the bitter fighting near the Hohenzollern Redoubt at Loos. When his unit's trenches came under heavy bombardment and were blocked by casualties, he volunteered to dash backwards and forwards across open ground and under intense fire to bring up 30 boxes of shells before he fell wounded in the head. According to his citation, gazetted on 18th November 1915, "it was mainly due to Private Harvey's cool bravery in supplying bombs that the enemy was eventually driven back."

Samuel Harvey was presented with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace by King George V on 24th January 1917. An appeal has been made for information on the whereabouts of Harvey's VC, which was lost by him some time later.

It was seperate lines of enquiry that coincided to lead to today's ceremony. Michael Brown, researching the Great War, came to the Old Cemetery Office to ask if he could take photographs relating to the other Ipswich VC winner, Sergeant Arthur Saunders of the Suffolk Regiment. Miss Lynn Burroughs in the Office drew his attention to the unmarked grave of Sam Harvey. The Chairman of the Suffolk Branch of the Western Front Association, Stuart Bufton, was approached and he readily agreed to raise the matter at the next Branch meeting. The Branch enthusiastically supported the idea and a committee was formed, which included Chris Matson, co-author of a book recounting the stories of all who won a VC on the Western Front in 1915, who generously made his own research available. A fine example of cooperation and cross-information.