So, an old man dies. Nothing particularly newsworthy there… it happens all the time. In this case, the old man was Harold Jellicoe Percival, aged 99, who served in RAF Bomber Command during WWII, who died in his sleep in Lancashire (Britain) after being found injured in the street. Sad, to be sure. But adding to it: he has no close relatives or friends (he was apparently quite the loner) who can come to his funeral, so it would be a particularly sad, empty affair.
But the funeral directors have done something a little different: in the tiny little funeral announcement in the newspaper, they’ve asked for any service personnel able to attend. The funeral director, in a fantastic example of English understatement, said:
‘I didn’t fancy the idea of an old serviceman going out on his last journey without any support.’
Once this request hit Ye Olde Internets, you might guess what’s happened. It looks like there might be several *hundred* servicemen and women attending.
FYI: The service is this coming Monday, November 11, at 11AM at the Lytham Park Crematorium. So, if you’re a current or former member of the British military, and aren’t otherwise busy that day, and happen to be in the area…