Born in Shanghai, he enlisted as a private in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1940 before being commissioned in the Coldstream Guards.

[1] Liddell was 25 years old, and a temporary captain in the 5th Battalion, Coldstream Guards, British Army during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

In Germany, on 3 April 1945, Liddell was commanding a company of the Coldstream Guards, which was ordered to capture intact a bridge over the River Ems near Lingen.

His task completed, he then climbed up on to the road-block in full view of the enemy and signalled his leading platoon to advance.

At the time she was a Section Officer in the WAAF and it was she who received her husband's VC from King George VI in a special investiture for next of kin held at Buckingham Palace on 12 February 1946.