FAMILY and friends of a Swindon war hero were today gathering at Kingsdown Crematorium to say goodbye for the last time.

George Turnbull, who died a week ago, trained many of the glider pilots who landed troops and munitions behind enemy lines hours before the D-Day landings.

Born in 1917, Mr Turnbull was only 17 when he joined the Royal Artillery telling a white lie about his age in the process.

He remained in the Army through the outbreak of war until 1941, when he transferred to the RAF.

Mr Turnbull was a widower, his wife Eileen (Emmy) having died some years ago, and the couple had three children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Daughter Eileen, 61, said: "I remember him as a soulmate he used to call me his little Em."

The family is insisting that the funeral should be a celebration of his life, which is what he would have wished.

Eileen explained: "He always said that if he saw anyone crying, they would get a thick ear, and that if anybody could see his face he would be smiling because he would be where he wanted to be.

"He had a favourite saying on the days when he was feeling ill 'beam me up, Scotty'.

"We say Scotty, whoever you are, he's on his way. Look after him and lead him back to mum."

Eileen planned to have the stirring music from World War Two film 633 Squadron played during today's ceremony.

During Mr Turnbull's time in the RAF, he trained about 150 young volunteers to fly gliders.

In an article written in 1994 for the Evening Advertiser, he remembered: "The thing that impressed me was that they were so brave, and we could not do enough for them.

"We realised what was up in front of them.

"It's very hard to train someone to fly a glider across the Channel at night and, in fact, their skill levels had to be higher than ours."

Mr Turnbull left the armed forces in 1945 and joined the GWR Railway Works accounts department.

He remained there until 1971, and spent the remainder of his career with Burmah Castrol.

In 1999, his memoirs, called Adventures of a Moonraker, were published.