A FOND farewell was said yesterday to one the North-East's oldest and best-loved residents.
The funeral of Fred Dickinson, 105, who died in hospital last week, took place at St Hilda's, on Hartlepool Headland, and was attended by friends and family.
Tributes flooded in for Mr Dickinson, one of the last men in the region who signed up to fight in the First World War.
Margaret Rafferty, who helped to look after him in his last years, said: "He was such a lovely man and such good company."
Mr Dickinson joined the Royal Navy when he was 18. He was a torpedo operator on HMS Warrior for nine months, but never saw active service in the First World War.
In the Second World War, he was a hero of the Home Front and organised the region's civil defence plans, for which he was awarded an MBE.
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