OLD soldiers joined family and friends to pay their last respects to a North-East military hero yesterday.

St Cuthbert's Church, in Durham, was packed to overflowing for the funeral of Captain Richard "Dickie" Annand, the first serviceman to win the Victoria Cross during the Second World War.

Until his death in the University Hospital of North Durham, on Christmas Eve, Capt Annand was the last surviving Durham Light Infantry (DLI) VC winner.

Six weeks earlier, old comrades from the DLI Association gathered outside the home he shared with his wife Shirley, in Whitesmocks, Durham, to mark his 90th birthday with a parade of bugles and drums.

Many members of the association formed a guard of honour as the family cortege arrived at the North Road church, yesterday.

Capt Annand's Victoria Cross and other medals were carried into the church by Major Chris Lawton MBE, the regimental county secretary of the Light Infantry Association.

For the duration of the service, the medals were placed on his coffin, alongside Capt Annand's military cap.

Canon Jon Bell, team rector of Durham, who knew Capt Annand and his widow, Shirley, as regular members of the congregation at St Cuthbert's, described it as an "allelujah day" to remember his life and brave deeds.

He described Capt Annand as a remarkable valorous man, who also had a strong sense of honour, reliability, grace and modesty.

Canon Bell said: "He was an utterly modest man, who felt his VC was for all those who served with him."

He spoke of Capt Annand's campaign work for the hard of hearing, saying that he devoted much of his life to working for the disabled.

Canon Bell said: "Dickie Annand, the man, the husband, the soldier, the hero, the Christian disciple and campaigner - we salute you!"

A reading was made by the industrialist Sir David Chapman, a family friend.

Hymns included He Who Would Valiant Be, and the DLI regimental hymn, Abide With Me, before buglers from the 2nd Battalion Light Infantry, a successor regiment to the DLI, played the Last Post, preceding a minute's silence, and the Reveille.

Pallbearers from the 2nd Battalion DLI carried the coffin from the church prior to a private family cremation service at Durham Crematorium.

Many members of the congregation then gathered at the nearby DLI Museum for a funeral tea.

Capt Annand earned his VC when, as a second lieutenant in the DLI's 2nd Battalion, he ignored heavy German fire to rescue his batman in a wheelbarrow, in Belgium, in May 1940.

He lost consciousness due to his wounds and was invalided back to England, but rejoined the reformed battalion the following month.

A year later, he was discharged from the 2nd Battalion when, as a result of rifle practice on the ranges, he lost what remained of his hearing.

* A memorial service of thanksgiving to the life of Capt Annand will be staged at Durham Cathedral on Monday, February 7, at 2.30pm.