FAMILY and friends have paid their last respects to Second World War veteran Augustine Ferens.

Mr Ferens, 81, known to many people in his home town of Willington as Gus, spent most of the conflict as a prisoner of war after being captured in Singapore, an experience which stayed with him for the rest of his life.

After the war, he returned to Willington, becoming a factory worker and a member of the Royal British Legion.

Lifetime friend John Connor, chairman of Willington branch of the Royal British Legion, said: "It was a privilege to know him. He was an active member, but he had great trouble with his legs.

"I think it was all the bashings he got off the Japanese, which didn't do him any good, and he used to have very bad dreams.

"He was a very generous man. When he used to go to the British Legion meetings he was always pulling a note out."

In 1995, Mr Ferens laid a wreath at Our Lady and St Thomas Roman Catholic Church, Willington, to mark the 50th anniversary of the capitulation of the Japanese.

Mr Connor said: "About a fortnight before he died I brought him over to my house to see the video.

"He laid a wreath at the altar in memory of his dead comrades and he was very proud to do that."

Mr Ferens, who leaves a widow Lily, was buried at the church on Friday, as Brancepeth and Aycliffe Brass Band played the Last Post.