{"id":133755,"date":"2023-11-15T16:18:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T16:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=133755"},"modified":"2023-11-15T16:18:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T16:18:39","slug":"british-ww2-paratrooper-given-heros-send-off-by-veterans-at-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/british-ww2-paratrooper-given-heros-send-off-by-veterans-at-funeral\/","title":{"rendered":"British WW2 Paratrooper given hero&apos;s send-off by veterans at funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Crowds of veterans and service personnel gather for the funeral of hero who had been one of the last-surviving WW2 paratroopers &#8211; after answering his family&#8217;s appeal to attend<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Herbert &#8216;Herbie&#8217; Samuel Bray, from Mullion, Cornwall, died in October, aged 97<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dozens of veterans gave a hero&#8217;s send-off to one of Britain&#8217;s last-surviving\u00a0Second World War paratroopers after a desperate plea by his family to attend his funeral.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trailblazing Herbert &#8216;Herbie&#8217; Samuel Bray, from Mullion, Cornwall, died in October, aged 97.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His grandson, Jordan Jane, 26, had asked veterans to attend and described the former Para as a &#8216;remarkable man and soldier&#8217; whose life &#8216;served the country&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Herbert&#8217;s funeral took place at Mullion Parish Church after a procession Mullion, with serving and former personnel, wearing their uniforms and medals, among those turning out to pay their respects.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mr Bray joined the war in 1944 aged 18, after his brother Billy was killed in action, going on to serve at the Rhine crossing and then in Palestine as a paratrooper.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/30\/17\/77183717-12689461-image-m-17_1698685782801.jpg\" height=\"859\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Herbert &#8216;Herbie&#8217; Samuel Bray photographed during his service days as a paratrooper in WW2<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/16\/77513923-12721285-image-a-8_1699375099324.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Dozens of people attended the paratrooper&#8217;s funeral today in Cornwall\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/16\/77513895-12721285-image-a-11_1699375142522.jpg\" height=\"415\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Veterans from the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marines marched behind Mr Bray&#8217;s casket<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/16\/77513917-12721285-image-m-10_1699375117797.jpg\" height=\"405\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Others, including personnel from the Royal Navy, gathered with veterans outside\u00a0Mullion Parish Church<\/p>\n<p>Paying tribute to Herbie, Jordan told mourners: &#8216;We lost a great man, the strongest man I&#8217;ve ever met, a Second World War paratrooper&#8230;Grandad Herbie will always be in my heart, my absolute hero.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Six standards flew in honour of the Second World War hero as the funeral procession made its way to the local church.<\/p>\n<p>His casket was adorned with the flag of the Parachute Regiment, with Herbie&#8217;s medals and his iconic maroon beret resting on top.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A guard of honour lined up outside the church saluted the war hero as he passed them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Herbie had lived in the village most of his life and had captained\u00a0Mullion Football Club after returning home from service.<\/p>\n<p>Tom French, of the Cornwall branch of the Parachute Regiment, said: &#8216;He was Cornish through and through. He was just a really nice unassuming fella.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/16\/77513925-12721285-image-a-15_1699375262316.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Six standards flew in honour of the Second World War hero as the funeral procession made its way to the local church.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/16\/77513893-12721285-image-a-17_1699375565869.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Herbert Samuel Bray (top second left) photographed with his paratrooper regiment during WW2<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/30\/17\/77183711-12689461-image-a-15_1698685764433.jpg\" height=\"634\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mr Bray (pictured here with his wife, Rita), died recently aged 97 and the community have been invited to attend his funeral\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/30\/17\/77183713-12689461-Mr_Bray_joined_the_war_in_1944_aged_18_serving_at_the_Rhine_cros-m-21_1698686219031.jpg\" height=\"942\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mr Bray joined the war in 1944 aged 18, serving at the Rhine crossing and then in Palestine as a paratrooper. Pictured (from R):\u00a0Herbert Bray, wife Rita, and grandson Ben at Trebah Garden Cornwall&#8217;s military day<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/16\/77513909-12721285-image-a-16_1699375500019.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>His casket was adorned with the flag of the Parachute Regiment, with Herbie&#8217;s medals and his iconic maroon beret resting on top.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan had previously appealed to ex military and current military to &#8216;remember one of the last surviving WWII paratroopers with a military procession led by a bagpiper followed by funeral and wake in Mullion&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He said: &#8216;Grandad was our hero as kids and still is now, he was humble, loyal and an all round top man.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He was an inspiration to us always and his stories of the war were incredible to hear. He looked after us a lot as kids and always took us on trips, we were his world and you could really tell that.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He had asked that soldiers, sailors and RAF personnel wear their uniforms &#8216;in honour of a life served to the country&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan added: &#8216;He was humble, loyal and an all round top man. His stories of the war were incredible to hear.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/30\/17\/77184203-12689461-image-a-19_1698686133053.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Herbert Samuel Bray (centre) pictured during his time as captain for Mullion FC<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/30\/17\/77184205-12689461-image-a-20_1698686152611.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Herbert &#8216;Herbie&#8217; Samuel Bray (second right) photographed with servicemen during his service days as a paratrooper in WW2<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/16\/77513911-12721285-image-a-18_1699375597208.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mr Bray is carried into\u00a0Mullion Parish Church, in Cornwall on Tuesday, November 7<\/p>\n<p>The veteran&#8217;s funeral comes days before Britain unites to honour its fallen military heroes for Remembrance Sunday, this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Parachute Regiment were formed in 1942 as Britain&#8217;s way of dropping elite troops behind German lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The &#8216;Paras&#8217; earned their reputation for daring during missions in North Africa, Normandy, Arnhem the Rhine crossing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the regiment has served in almost every other war Britain has been involved in.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12721285\/WW2-British-paratrooper-hero-funeral-cornwall.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crowds of veterans and service personnel gather for the funeral of hero who had been one of the last-surviving WW2&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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