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Alongside friends and comrades, John Campbell fought on one of the toughest battlegrounds ever encountered by British soldiers.

And yet the Burma veteran could be buried with no friends or family attending his funeral; no ceremony. After dying in hospital, the former soldier is to be buried alone in a quiet service at Whitley Bay Crematorium.

Mr Campbell – whose full name was John Anderson Campbell – died in North Tyneside Hospital on March 17, aged 92. With no known relatives or friends, it is unlikely there will be anybody to attend his funeral.

But there is hope for a more fitting send-off for this old soldier. The Royal British Legion Riders – the group of bikers that supports the work of the Royal British Legion and tries to send representatives to veterans’ funerals – is trying to rally support for people to attend his funeral service.

Writing on the Riders’ Facebook page, the Legion’s Northumberland county secretary Paul Woodward wrote: “No-one will be attending his funeral. This cannot be right for someone who fought for his Queen and Country in some of the most atrocious and arduous conditions found in any theatre of war.

"He was a veteran who served this country and he should be remembered.

"We as the Royal British Legion Riders branch will do everything we can to make sure his memory is honoured.

“We can give this hero the sending off he deserves.”

The Burma campaign in which Mr Campbell took part saw some incredibly fierce fighting between Allied Forces and the Japanese. Beginning in 1942 with the Japanese invasion of Burma, it was one of the longest running campaigns of the Second World War. Many local men took part in the Burma campaign through different regiments, including the Border Regiment.

They are now hoping that Riders, ex-servicemen and women, and members of the public will attend Mr Campbell’s funeral. It takes place on Thursday April 3 at 2.15pm at Whitley Bay Crematorium on Blyth Road, Whitley Bay.