A FINAL farewell was bid to Bournemouth D-Day veteran Harry Read at his funeral yesterday morning.
Dozens of people filled Bournemouth Crematorium for the moving service celebrating the life of the legendary paratrooper, who died on December 15 last year, at the age of 97.
During the war Mr Read parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of June 6, 1944.
He was a wireless operator with the Royal Signals and had a battery the size and weight of a toolbox strapped to his leg when he was pushed out of the plane in the early hours of that day.
In 2016, Mr Read, who was a prominent member of the international Salvation Army, was awarded France's highest military honour, a Chevalier medal by order of the Légion d'honneur, for his role in the liberation of France in the Second World War.
Yesterday, the hearse carrying Mr Read’s coffin, which was draped in the traditional ‘Promoted to Glory’ flag, was led to the chapel by a flag bearer from The Salvation Army Winton corps.
A commissioner of The Salvation Army, awarded the Order of the Founder for his distinguished service, Mr Read’s funeral was attended by family, friends, members of the military and representatives of the Parachute Regimental Association.
At the age of 94, Mr Read jumped from 10,000 feet in his first high level skydive since he parachuted into Normandy on June 6, 1944.
He used the event to fundraise for the Salvation Army’s anti trafficking and modern slavery work in UK.
Corporal Mike French, who tandem jumped with Mr Read during his 2018 parachute, said:
“I’ve done 5,000 jumps in the army and that is up there as number one, my favourite jump.
“To me that’s why we’re here, to help our veterans.
“Harry was perfect, calm, collected and had no nerves whatsoever.
“His body position, everything, he was perfect during free-fall.
“He’s a paratrooper though so he’s a natural."
READ MORE: D-Day veteran Harry Read, 95, parachutes into Normandy
Paying his respects with fellow paratroopers, Cpl French added: “We’re quite close as an airborne brotherhood so for us to say goodbye to one of our brothers is always very dear to us.”
One family member, Stephen Shaw, said: “My great-great-granddaughter Isabella who’s three said to him, ‘Pops you’re incredible’ and that pretty much sums him up.
“Everybody he touched, everybody he spoke to thought the same. He was just an incredible, humble man.”
Matthew Horan, who served as a signalman in the Royal Corps of Signals, said: “During the Normandy landings Harry was very important because he jumped in with the radios which would have enabled those behind enemy lines to communicate and enable the landings to go ahead.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to be able to pay our respects, he was a real character and he was a very humble man."
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