FRIENDS and family came together to say farewell to a veteran who served in the Second World War.

Loved ones gathered at Basingstoke Crematorium on Monday, 11 March to celebrate the life of ar veteran Stanley Bowyer.

At the funeral, Mr Bowyer’s hearse was accompanied by an honour guard, comprising of seven veterans and seven serving soldiers.

Susan Fullwood, one of Mr Bowyer’s two daughters along with Mary Jarrett, said: “There was always a lovely twinkle in his eye, and he had a very wry sense of humour.

“He was always very sharp mentally. Sometimes I would ask him what he was thinking about and he told me he was doing mental arithmetic to keep his mind sharp.”

Mr Bowyer died at Basingstoke hospital on February 6 aged 94 after having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Susan added: “He passed away peacefully and couldn’t have asked for better care.”

Mr Bowyer was born in Westminster on December 18, 1924, and moved with his family to south east London when he was two.

Shortly after the Second World War broke out in September 1939, when he was 14, he was evacuated to Sussex and later joined the Home Guard, a group of soldiers either too young or too old for active service who guarded the country.

He joined the Army on April 1, 1943, which he described as ‘a silly day to join up.’

Arriving in his Home Guard uniform, the only uniformed person there, meant that he was picked on by the sergeant major at the time.

He became a forward observation signaller with the Royal Artillery, and was up front with the infantry in various campaigns and countries, including being in Normandy shortly after D-Day.

From there, he went onto Belgium and then on to Germany. He was also involved in the Battle of Arnhem. Three years ago, the French government awarded him the Legion d’Honneur medal for his service in Normandy.

After the end of the war, instead of being sent home, Stanley was posted to Palestine for two years before returning home.

Making the trip back home in 1948, he took a job at the Territorial Army in Kent as an instructor, before being posted to Fort Halstead in the early 1950s, then being transferred to AWRE (now AWE) where he became involved with the executive office of logistics. He then lived in Tadley before moving to Basingstoke.

He became heavily involved in the Royal Artillery Association, acting as a welfare officer for the group, supporting those in the unit and sometimes their widows.

He was also a member of the Polar Bear Association, as that was the name of his division, as well as the Normandy Veterans and the Market Garden Veterans.