A fond farewell to WWII veteran

IN MEMORY Jack Bunn pictured last year with some of his memories that he recorded.

He was 96.

Jack was well known in the town of Batley and was a member of many committees during his lifetime, including being the chair of Hanging Heaton Village Association. He was a veteran of the Second World War and, according to son Barry, 70, had seven bullet wounds in his body from his time during the conflict.

After the war he worked mainly as a driver.

He also looked after a number of animals on his smallholding and in November 2004 he hit the national headlines after hatching a rare Oakham Blue chicken from an egg he bought off the shelf at his local Tesco.

He quipped at the time: “One of my own hens was becoming broody so I decided to see if the Tesco eggs really were free range.”

The hen went on to lay eggs of its own.

Son Barry said: “He was champion, he was old fashioned but in a good way - he wasn’t into computers, he preferred to put pen to paper. He was a good father to me.”

He fought in five countries around Europe during the war and once recalled meeting German soldiers during a lull in the fighting. He rarely spoke about his war years but once recalled: “We were outside a village in France and a white flag went up and the Germans came up to see us and we had cigarettes together. Then we got the call on the radio from our side, bombers were coming, so, we had to tell the Germans to go back down and they were bombed.”

Jack died from septicaemia in Pinderfields Hospital. His late wife Eileen died in 2010. Jack leaves four children, Barry, Michael, Lynda and Beverley, along with a number of grandchildren. His funeral will take place at Dewsbury Moor Crematorium on Tuesday, December 1, at 12.30pm.