A BIOGRAPHY of an heroic family - including the only pair of brothers who won the Victoria Cross in the First World War - will be launched next week.

Author and retired headteacher Harry Moses will launch his biography of the Bradford brothers, The Fighting Bradfords, at the Durham Light Infantry Museum and Durham Art Gallery, on Saturday, June 7, at 2pm.

Published by County Durham books, Durham County Council's publishing arm, the study looks at the men behind the medals and what it was like to be a young man caught up in some of the war's most ferocious battles.

The brothers - Roland, Thomas, George and James - had a tough middle-class upbringing, and served with exceptional heroism in The Durham Light Infantry and Royal Navy.

George, a Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander, was killed at Zeebrugge on his 31st birthday and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Roland, who was the British Army's youngest Brigadier General, died in November 1917 on the Cambrai battlefield at the age of 25.

He and George were the only brothers in the First World War to receive the Victoria Cross.

James, who served with the 18th Battalion The DLI, won the Military Cross in March 1917 for his leadership in an attack on a German stronghold at The Somme. He died from his wounds two months later.

Thomas, of the 8th Battalion The DLI, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He survived the conflict, and was knighted in 1939.

In a foreword to The Fighting Bradfords, Sir Peter de la Billiere, the British commander in the Gulf War and a DLI solider, says the brothers 'epitomise the finest tradition of bravery and leadership within the British services.'

At the launch, Mr Moses will sign copies of the book and give a talk on the brothers.

Tickets, priced at £3.50, £2.50 and £1.50, are available from the museum in advance or at the door.