Members of the armed forces gathered to raise a final salute to a Dartford war veteran who spent 10 months in a German prisoner of war camp.

The funeral of Sydney George Blackmore, 92, of Cadagon Avenue, who was a member of the Sidcup and Foots Cray British Legion and president of Eltham and Chislehurst Parachute Regiment, was held on November 26 at Eltham Crematorium.

Mr Blackmore, better known as Sid, joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1939 before being deployed to north Africa as part of the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment.

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Sid Blackmore

The veteran's first operational jump came during the Second World War as the regiment took part in an invasion of Sicily.

The 2nd Battalion were trained intensively for D-Day but was held in reserve while the landings took place in Normandy.

The Battalion came into their own during the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands in September 1944 as part of Operation Market Garden.

Mr Blackmore had said in interviews after the war that if the operation had succeeded the "war would have been over by the end of the year".

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Sid Blackmore pictured as a young man

He was wounded during a heavy assault at Arnhem which led him to be held as a prisoner of war for the last 10 months the war.

Mr Blackmore's niece, Kathleen Stannard, 67, from Turnstone in New Barn said: "He was wounded and lost consciousness.

"He was told he was taken to the cellar of a nearby house with other wounded and treated there by British medics and believes he was surrendered with the other wounded and taken to Appledoorn hospital.

"He only came round when he was being loaded onto a cattle truck to go to a POW camp where he spend the last 10 months of the war looking forward to the monthly Red Cross parcels and the occasional letter from home."

The attack left Mr Blackmore with pieces of shrapnel in his head.

Speaking in his later years he said he was "always amused by the comments and expressions on the faces of hospital staff whenever they x-ray me."

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Serving soldiers, veterans and members of the Royal British Legion turned out for Sid's funeral

Members of the Parachute Regiment Association, the Royal British Legion and serving members of the armed forces donned uniforms and raised standards to say a final farewell to the beloved veteran who on November 6 died following a short battle with cancer.

Mr Blackmore leaves behind his wife of 65 years 93-year-old Wyn.

Mrs Stannard added: "They never had any children but had a lot of nieces and nephews whom they were very close to."