THE last post was played by a lone bugler and the men from Royal British Legion lowered their military standards as Halesowen war hero Jack Rowe was laid to rest.

The veterans from the Cradley Royal British Legion and Ex-Servicemen Association were never going to led the 95-year-old former RAF man go quietly and they ensured he got the send off he deserved at Stourbridge Crematorium yesterday.

Halesowen Scouts bugler Shaun Brookes and standard bearers David Brenton and Norman Cotton from Cradley Royal British Legion attended the funeral in full regalia as family and friends said their goodbye to Jack, whose coffin was given the honour of being draped in a Union flag.

Legion chairman Norman Catton, aged 81, said: "I've lost count of the amount of these funerals of being to over the years but it never stops being an honour.

"They are becoming few and far between now as there are not many of those great servicemen who fought in WW2 left anymore."

He said: "I knew Jack from the Hawne Tavern and Edward VII and he was never one to talk about his days in the RAF.

"Those boys had it bad, they would have seen a lot of their friends die during the war, and that was his right not to talk about it."

He added: "However, that does not mean we could not give him a bloody good send off."

Pastor Steve Hyde led the service and told the congregation how Jack had grown up in Romsley and spent 60 years married to his wife.

He said: "I think his war record even surprised his family, but he was not one to talk about his time in the RAF.

"He did however, enjoy talking about his time as journalist, he once covered Aston Villa winning 11-1 against Charlton.

"He was an intelligent man and enjoyed writing, he worked for the Birmingham Evening Gazette before writing trade magazines, he was still doing it into his 80s."

The landladies and staff of the Hawne Tavern and Edward VII where he was a regular patron.

Edward VII landlady Barbara Woodling said: "It is only right that we came to say goodbye to Jack, he was a regular for years.

"He was a good man, and will be missed."