Steve Warren was determined that his friend, Harry Arrowsmith, would get a proper send-off.
Arrowsmith, 91, from Olton, died recently. In World War II he was the tail-gunner, ‘tail-end Charlie’, surviving 18 missions.
Later, he was involved in the Berlin airlift, dropping supplies into the Western Zone of Berlin.
His only surviving relative, his sister Sheila, and his friend Steve Warren were concerned very few people would attend the funeral held November 17.
Instead, the British Legion, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), RAF, and the Burma Star Association arranged standard bearers for the funeral. Royal Airforce Base Cosford sent pallbearers, Birmingham Mail reported.
Shiela and Steve got their wish, and Harry Arrowsmith got the best possible sendoff.
Harry met his future wife, Joan, when he returned home to Birmingham and the pair was married for over 60 years before she died in 2010. She worked during the war at Bletchley Park, the top-secret code-breaking estate at the heart of British codebreaking.