FORMER Warrant Officer 2 of the Royal Marines, Brian James George Green, has died at the age of 80 following a short illness.

Mr Green, known to his friends in the armed forces as Jim, was born on 3 June 1935 to parents, Florence and Cecil, of Southhill Road in Boscombe and had one brother called Colin.

He worked in the family butchers shop in Windham road in Springbourne, based opposite The Cricketers pub, which is how he met his wife, Marlene, as sweethearts from their teen years. Her family ran the local general grocer shop, which was based opposite the butchers and they were married in 1953, and had two sons, Brett and Vincent.

After working in the butchers, Mr Green volunteered with the Royal Marines, which he served with for 22 years in troubled areas including Aden, Kenya, Egypt, Cyprus, Malaysia and Northern Ireland. Over time, he visited most countries and continents with the exception of Antarctica and became Regimental Sergeant Major before finishing as Warrant Officer 2.

On retirement from the marines, he worked at the International Time Recording Company in Poole, before moving to Normalair-Garrett, which was part of the Westlands Group of aeronautical industry and acted as a liaison between branches.

When he retired from working in 1998, Mr Green had a number of interests including camping holidays in his VW van and many trips around the UK with members of his extended family, as well as abroad with his wife, Marlene.

He loved trains and model railways, taking on various projects at home and he had a keen interest in the German language and the army.

Mr Green was a dearly loved granddad and great granddad. He died at home on July 25 and his funeral service was held at Bournemouth Crematorium on Thursday, August 20.