'He had no family but we won't let him be alone at his send-off...'

He served his country for years with pride and valour. Now the public are being urged to repay the favour by honouring his life at his funeral service.

Veteran Derek Thompson died aged 92 earlier this month after a battle with cancer. He served in the British Army and is said to have been one of the last soldiers to carry out National Service after the Second World War.

Sadly, Mr Thompson had no known family, with an appeal now launched for people to attend his funeral service in Radcliffe, Bury.

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Tributes have been paid online to a 'true gentleman' and a 'lovely man', with Facebook comments sharing the appeal saying he 'always had a smile'.

Mr Thompson, who lived in Elton, Bury, was a member of the Borough of Bury Veterans Association. He was also a regular attender at the Crown Veterans Breakfast Club held on Fridays at the Mosses Centre on Cecil Street in Bury.

Owen Dykes, from the club, said: "Derek served in the Army and was one of the last soldiers to carry out national service.

"As Derek had no family we want to make sure he is not alone on his send-off, so if anyone is able to attend, both civilian and veteran, to give Derek a great send-off, it will be greatly appreciated. If any standard bearer is available to parade with standards, it will be greatly appreciated."

Mr Thompson's funeral will be held on Monday, October 7, at 10.30am at Radcliffe Crematorium, Cemetery Road, Radcliffe, Bury. Mr Dykes said: "Veterans are requested to parade in blazer, medals and unit headdress, Civilians are requested to be smart civilians. Let's remember Derek and give him a good send off."

Wilma McCarrick, also from the breakfast club, said she believes Mr Thompson was an engineer by trade. She said his wife, Pam, died some years ago and they had no children.

Little is known of his service record. Wilma said: "We do not know which regiment he served in. He was like a lot of veterans - he did not speak about the past.

"He was a lovely gentleman - a true gentleman. Derek was 92 in July. He was married to his wife, Pam, who passed away a few years ago. They had no children. There is no family that we are aware of. He did not mention any nieces or nephews or other family members."

She said he enjoyed playing darts and pool - and praised the response of the public to the appeal so far.

"We have had so much support so far," said Wilma. "We have had someone coming forward to ask to play the bugle at the funeral and offers of flowers. He had a funeral plan but it was a basic funeral plan. We thought we would put an appeal out and see what we could do.

"We did not want Derek's final journey to be him alone. That was my biggest fear. I do not care if thousands of people turn up - that would be fantastic."