Dunkirk survivor Joseph Willis dies aged 99

A war veteran who was among the Black Country's last Dunkirk survivors has died at the age of 99.

Friends and family have paid tribute to "true gentleman" Joseph Willis, who was also known as Fred.

The grandfather-of-four spent three days on the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 waiting for rescue.

Born to a mining family in the North East of England in August 1922, Mr Willis left school at 14 to be a miner.

He soon decided this was not for him and got a job on a farm looking after horses, before joining the Boy Scouts.

During his time in the scouts, he was invited to North Aston Hall, in Banbury, where then lady of the house Mrs Hitchins taught him to drive and he became her personal chauffeur.

In the early 1920s, he met his future wife Madge and the pair tied the knot in 1936 before moving to London where Mr Willis worked as a chauffeur for a wine merchant.

But everything changed with the outbreak of the Second World War when Mr Willis joined the army's Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME).

He survived Dunkirk when 350,000 soldiers were rescued from France by a hastily-assembled fleet of ships and little boats, and he served in the Middle East and Italy, reaching the position of staff sergeant with the 8th Army.

In 1940 he became father to Raymond.

At the end of the war, Mr Willis became a chauffeur for the BBC and it was during this time that he became a father to daughter Joan.

He moved from the BBC to ATV and he worked there until his retirement in 1976. Three years later, Mr and Mrs Willis moved to Aldridge to be closer to their grandchildren.

In 1987, Mrs Willis died, and Raymond died in 1990.

After the war, Mr Willis dedicated his time to the Dunkirk Veterans' Association, which he chaired for a time, and he was chairman of Probus from 1991 to 1992. Every year until the 50th anniversary, he made pilgrimages to Dunkirk.

In 1995, Mr Willis met Beryl and the pair married two years later.

He passed away peacefully on October 6, leaving daughter and son-in-law Joan and Andrew Stanton, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Mrs Stanton said: "He was a true gentleman. He was a kind man and very generous to everybody and you could have a bit of fun with him."

Members of the Aldridge branch of the British Legion said they believed Mr Willis was among the last Dunkirk survivors in the area.

A private funeral service is being held next week.