We WILL remember him: Hundreds of strangers flock to Remembrance Day funeral of Bomber Command veteran who died alone aged 99

Harold Jellicoe Percival died in a nursing home and had no close relatives to attend his funeral in Lancashire

But more than 300 people, including many in uniform, attended the ceremony after advert placed in local paper

Mr Percival served as ground crew for Bomber Command and helped with the Dambusters raid

Two-minute Armistice Day silence was observed across Britain at 11am




His death could so easily have been marked with a simple service in an almost empty chapel.

Harold Jellicoe Percival, a last link to the Dambusters raid, never married and had no children. When he died last month aged 99 he had no close friends and it seemed there would be no one to mourn him except a handful of care home staff.

But yesterday, after a newspaper appeal led to an internet campaign highlighting the forgotten war veteran’s case, hundreds of people who never knew him came to pay their respects at his funeral – poignantly held at 11am on Armistice Day.

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Remembrance: Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of Harold Jellicoe Percival in Lancashire

Coffin: The former airman's casket was wrapped in a British flag and the Dambusters theme was played as it was carried in

March: Many of those who turned out to Mr Percival's funeral were apparently in the military themselves Well-wishers: Two out of the hundreds of mourners who attended Mr Percival's funeral despite never having met him



FUNERAL DISRUPTED BY BNP

Harold Jellicoe Percival's funeral was disrupted today when the extremist British National Party tried to use the event to promote itself.

Amongst the floral tributes was a bunch of flowers with a card reading: 'Stand Down Soldier... Nick Griffin MEP and the British National Party'.

An undertaker removed the flowers from display after BNP members began to draw attention to them by photographing them.

But a party official asked angrily: 'Who has taken the flowers? They are from an MEP. If it was an MP from another party they would be left alone.'

However, when they demanded the return of the flowers, they were told: 'This is not a funeral for politicians or politics. There is no place for that here today.'

Group Captain Bob Kemp of the RAF Benevolent Fund said: ‘Harold Percival served in perhaps the most famous unit of World War Two. It is fitting that he should be given this sort of send-off. It is remarkable.’

Mr Percival, a distant relative of Spencer Perceval – who in 1812 became the only British prime minister to be assassinated – was born in Penge, South-East London.

The only love of his life, Jessie Campbell, is understood to have died of tuberculosis in 1935.

After the war Mr Percival emigrated to Australia, working as a decorator. He returned to Britain and lived in hotels until he moved into the care home where he died.

Britain stands still for those who gave their lives



Elsewhere in Britain, silence fell at 11am as multiple acts of remembrance were held across the country.



The last surviving First World War widow, Dorothy Ellis, was among the guests at the national Armed Forces Memorial in Staffordshire.



The memorial bears the names of more than 16,000 fallen service personnel.

The event took place within the walls of the Armed Forces Memorial, which is designed to allow a shaft of sunlight to dissect its walls hitting the bronze wreath sculpture when the two-minute silence takes place.



Services held in the capital included one at the Lloyd's of London market in the City attended by the Chelsea Pensioners, and another in Trafalgar Square, featuring musical performances and readings.

In Northern Ireland, the mayor of Belfast made history by being the first Sinn Fein official to attend an Armistice Day commemoration.



Mairtin O Muilleoir ended the long-running republican boycott of the remembrance event, which was prompted by its links to the British military.

Standstill: The scene in Lloyd's of London at 11am, with thousands of brokers joining in the two-minute silence

Solemn: Workers at the insurance firm traditionally turn out on the balconies and staircases of the building Iconic: The service at Lloyd's has become one of the most recognisable events of Armistice Day each year

Service: A choir sings during the Armistice Day commemoration at Lloyd's

Ceremony: One major event was held at the Armed Forces Memorial in Staffordshire

Message: Dorothy Ellis, the last surviving widow of the First World War, left a note on a wreath at the service in Staffordshire

Poignant: Mrs Ellis places her wreath on the memorial in memory of her husband Wilfred Poppies: Alan Rowe, centre, a Second World War veteran from Liverpool, at a ceremony in Ypres today Generations: Mr Rowe looks up at a young boy as paper poppies fall through the air during the ceremony under the Menin Gate The Archbishop of Canterbury visited the Ministry of Defence and the Cenotaph in Whitehall to mark the solemn occasion, where he also met service chaplains and was updated on military operations.

Justin Welby said: 'At this time of year it's essential that we remember and give thanks for all those who gave their lives for the sake of freedom in the two World Wars, and also remember those who still risk their lives as servicemen and women in our Armed Forces.

'It's a time to recommit ourselves to the cause of peace and to seek to play our own small part as agents of reconciliation.'

Shoppers: The two-minute silence was observed around a memorial cross at the Metrocentre in Gateshead

Cross: The small memorial at the Metrocentre, Europe's biggest shopping centre

Respect: Shoppers paused from their routine to honour the Armistice Day silence Salute: A cannon was fired in Nottingham city centre to mark Armistice Day Cemetery: Ira Feliciano, a U.S. air force member from Hawaii, at the American war cemetery in Cambridge with a friend's son Allies: The cemetery hosted a service honouring the American servicemen who were buried in England during the both world wars Tears: One woman was pictured crying during the two-minute silence in Edinburgh

In Belgium, the Duke of Edinburgh attended a 'sacred soil' ceremony alongside soldiers of the Household Division, Belgian soldiers, and schoolchildren from both the United Kingdom and Belgium.



The soil, gathered from some 70 First World War battlefields and Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries, will be brought back to the UK to form the centrepiece of a Flanders Field memorial garden at Wellington Barracks.

