The family of a war hero has issued a desperate appeal as only four mourners are due to attend his funeral.
Wilfred Slater died on Thursday, April 27, at the age of 97, after living a full and healthy life – despite taking bullets in both legs while fighting in the Second World War.
Now great-nephew John Benson put out an appeal on social media on behalf of the former soldier of D Company, 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, saying: “We decided he needed a bit of a send-off.”
John, of Cottingham, said: “Wilfred was my mum’s uncle. He was one of four, but all of his siblings had passed away before him. He wasn’t married and had no children.
“It was likely going to be just the four of us – myself and my wife, Emma, and my mum and dad, Lynne and Alastair Benson – who were going to be at the funeral. We decided to drum up a bit of support.”
John’s message on Twitter said: “My 97 yr old great uncle has passed away. He is a WWII veteran but there will be four of us at his funeral. It’s May 22nd, 1.30pm, Haltemprice Crematorium. Would be lovely if any veterans etc could come. Please share.”
He tagged in a number of veterans’ organisations, including Hull 4 Heroes, the Royal British Legion and MoD Veterans UK, in the hope they would help spread the word.
John said: “We all knew Wilfred as Pete.
“He had lived independently until he had a fall earlier this year and was in hospital for a while. He had gone into residential care at Kirk Ella Mansions.
“He’s only been in there for about three weeks when he died. The staff there were absolutely lovely and brilliant with him for the short time he was there.”
Wilfred saw service in North West Europe and later in Egypt and Palestine. He joined up aged 18, in 1944, and spent time on the front line at the River Maas, in the Netherlands, HullLive reports.
In 1945, only a few days after his 19th birthday, Wilfred was wounded in both legs in a German sniper attack on a farmhouse. He was evacuated and treated in Ghent, Belgium, and recuperated in Knokke, also in Belgium, before returning to active service.
“He took part in battles we knew nothing about, where the combat was quite ferocious,” said John. “He went in as a private and finished the war as a corporal. In honour of his regiment, a bridge in Belgium was renamed the Yorkshire Bridge.”
Demobbed in 1947, Wilfred came home to East Yorkshire and worked as a lorry driver, spending about 20 years at Capper Pass.
“He was a very strong character and lived by himself until earlier on this year.
“He had never been on any medication and he read without glasses right up until the end. He was totally independent up until Covid and the lockdowns, when we took over doing his shopping and paying his bills for him.
“Wilfred went on lots of veterans’ trips back to Europe – he went to Belgium and France – and he was also involved in the veterans in the East Riding.
“His service and military life were very important to him, but like a lot of his generation, he didn’t talk about the war that much.”
A number of years ago, the Imperial War Museum recorded some of Wilfred’s recollections of his early life, including being called up and his wartime service.
John said: “If we can use the power of the media, and social media, to give Wilfred the last few moments of respect he deserves, then that’s what we aim to do.
“It isn’t what we want, it’s what he would have wanted.”
Since John first put out the appeal, the family has heard that local veterans with standards plan to line the drive to the crematorium and that a bugler will play the Last Post.
