Hundreds of people gathered at a church in London on Thursday for the funeral of one of the last Black Royal Air Force pilots to have fought in World War II.
Born in Jamaica in 1926, Peter Brown, a flight Sergeant of the Caribbean, was one of the so-called pilots of the Caribbean, a group of Afro-Caribbean RAF volunteers.
The British soldier, aged 96, died alone in December at his home in London, according to the United Kingdom's PA Media news agency.
The funeral was held in St. Clement Danes Church, which was used as a place of remembrance to those who served, where his coffin was draped in the Union flag in front of hundreds of guests.
The ceremony was originally intended to be a more modest affair, until an appeal by the local council to give the veterans a more fitting send-off was pick up by archivists and historians, which then captured the public imagination.
Since the appeal went out, there has been a search spanning the globe for his relatives and a number of leads were followed up by council officers and genealogists, the council said in a statement.
Britain's defense secretary Ben Wallace, and Parliament Members Tom Tugendhat and Johnny Mercer, who have each served in the military themselves, tweeted their support for finding his family.
After organizers were inundated with requests to attend the service, a new date and venue were arranged to accommodate the very many well-wishers the appeal had reached.
Arrangements were made to ensure that Mr. Brown received a dignified send-off worthy of his life story, the council said in a statement.
Hundreds of mourners responded to the call, with many flying thousands of miles to pay their respects.
Brooke Alexander, a relative of Brown s contacted during the appeal, traveled from Kingston, Jamaica's capital to attend the funeral.
The contribution of all Commonwealth personnel who have served throughout the RAF's history is an example of the selfless contribution, said a RAF spokeswoman.
When I joined The Forgotten Generations charity and a former RAF pilot in the 1970s, I had no idea there were African and Caribbean people like Peter Brown who served in World War II. I wish I d known about people like Peter because it would have given me the confidence to say that my forebears fought for this country, some of them died, so I have a right to be here, Campbell said.
Peter Brown's stories are of benefit to future generations.