Final hats off to Atherstone's RAF bomb crew veteran Andy Croxall as 'respect and gratitude goes with you'

A World War II veteran has left "notes from the heavens" as Atherstone bid a final farewell to a man who defied deadly survival odds and horrors of being an aircrew member in the RAF's biggest bomber during the global conflict.

Flag-bearing personnel from all three armed forces paid a fitting tribute of "respect and gratitude" at the funeral of 97-year-old Reginald 'Andy' Croxall who died in the George Eliot hospital four days after a fall at his Croft Road home.

The former wireless operator and air gunner on the monster Stirling planes from 1941-45 was accorded full military honours by nine representatives of the British Army, the Gurkhas, Royal Navy and air force at his service in the Heart of England Crematorium, Nuneaton.

It was no more than the Atherstone "true gent" deserved after a lifetime of giving – first to his country in times of peril, then to the town's famous hatting industry and finally to charitable causes he treasured.

And as his close-knit family of daughter Ann, son-in-law and two grandchildren come to terms with the shock of his sudden death after enjoying good health throughout his long life, granddaughter Shelly Freestone spoke of how he seemed to want to keep the memory alive of what airmen suffered above the skies of Europe three-quarters of a century ago.

Shelly, 38, told Nub News: "Towards what became the end of his life, he started leaving me notes – reminiscing about his days in the RAF and what it was like up there in the Stirling bomber.

"We saw him as a hero. But he said: 'If you could have seen me up in the sky you would not have said I was a brave man'."

She added: "Whenever he was asked about his war heroics he would say it was 'terrifying'."

Flying in the four-engine Shorts Stirling bomber – which stood 23 feet from ground to cockpit – was not for the faint-hearted.

Grim statistics followed RAF bombers during WWII. Of 364,514 operational sorties flown, some 8,325 aircraft were lost in action with nearly half of the aircrew members killed – 57,205 out of a total of 125,000. The Atherstone RAF veteran lost many good friends.

Warrant Officer Andy flew a total of 24 missions to Germany with 171 and 199 Squadrons – sending and receiving wireless signals during the flight, assisting the Observer with triangulation "fixes" to aid navigation and, if attacked, manning the defensive machine gun armament of the bomber to fight off enemy aircraft.

It would have been 25 but for a night in 1943 when his bomber crashed on take-off.

It was a miracle the crew got out alive as the plane burst into flames when it hit the ground and set off the machine guns which peppered the runway with its deadly arsenal.

Shelly recounted: "Grandad said the plane got into trouble on take-off but the pilot thought he knew better by continuing with the ascent. The aircraft just tipped over and fell back to the ground – and on landing grandad climbed through flames to safety."

The lonely existence in the night skies back and forth from raids on Germany was a far cry from the start of Andy Croxall's life.

Born in November 1922, he spent the first three years with his parents in a rented terraced house in Bosse's Yard in Long Street before the family moved to Tenter Street.

At 14 he left school and went to work at Denham and Hargreaves – the start of a lifetime devoted to Atherstone's famous hatting industry which was only interrupted by war service.

His first attempt to join up failed but eventually he succeeded in getting into the armed forces and did his RAF training in Blackpool and Northern Ireland before being posted to North Creek in Norfolk. At Wells-next-the-Sea he met Flo, his wife of more than 60 years.

They married after the war and he returned to hatting, moving to Wilson and Stafford after the closure of Denhams.

His "terrifying" experiences during WWII left a lasting mark on him. As export sales manager with Wilson and Stafford he often travelled to Europe to win business for the Atherstone firm but never chose to fly again – instead choosing ferries.

He finally hung up his hat at 70, after having worked part-time from his official retirement age.

For more than a quarter of a century he relaxed by playing snooker and watching it on TV along with hundreds of crime series and war films on DVD.

Shelly added: "He did a lot for charity, and donated a lot to different organisations.

"He would help anyone and was grateful for what people did for him."

Shelly said his death came as real shock to the family as he had enjoyed good health all his life and "would surely have lived to be 100".

But a fall going up the stairs of his home put him in the George Eliot hospital, Nuneaton, where he died four days later in on January 30. Last Thursday's funeral was followed by a commemorative wake at the Blue Boar, Mancetter.

Tributes were paid to him on social media after his death.

Barbara Whiston remarked: "Such a true gent. I worked at Wilson and Stafford he told me stories about the war. I loved listening to him

And from Bill Simpson a final 'hats off': "Farewell old soldier, our respect and gratitude goes with you."

Footnote: Nine years ago Mr Croxall gave a 15-minute interview on YouTube about his early life and also spoke about tomorrow's Atherstone Ball Game.

He said the event had always been "rough and tumble" and he recalled having a narrow escape one year when watching it from the sidelines as a miner's helmet flew through the air and landed next to him, and would have caused him some damage if he it had struck him.

He also remembered a "nice gesture" by the players of the day kicking the ball over the town's workhouse wall, so the people there could "have a go".

To watch the video click on the red box at the bottom of this story.

To see more images, click on the arrows at the side of the main picture at the top of the story.