By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent
Two thousand people have turned up to mark the funeral of a World War Two veteran who died with no close relatives or friends.
An internet campaign was launched after a Lancashire funeral director advertised the service for Harold Jellicoe Percival in a local newspaper.
Mr Percival died aged 99 last month in a nursing home. He had never married, had no children, outlived his siblings and was described as "a solitary man".
He served during the Second World War with RAF Bomber Command and worked as ground crew for the famous Dambuster Squadron.
He left the RAF after the war and led a nomadic lifestyle.
The chapel at Lytham Park Crematorium was packed for his funeral service and several hundred more people stood outside in the rain.
Funeral director Dawn Whitehead-Brown said: "It is humbling and heartwarming to see so many people who never knew this man turn up here to pay their respects.
"We had no idea what kind of response we would get when we put the ad in the paper ... but to see this turnout is unbelievable."
Many serving and former servicemen and women attended the funeral held on Armistice Day.
It began as a two-minute silence heralded by a bugler sounded the Last Post at 11am.
Mr Percival's nephew, Andrew Collier-Worsell, said the response from members of the public was "outstanding".
"It is just remarkable to see so many people turn up ... strangers ... people who never knew him in his life," he said.
"I think if he'd known, he'd have been sheltering around the corner, hiding from it all.
"He wasn't a very public man. He was a private man, a solitary loner.
"I think it shows there is a deep feeling for the veterans and the service they put in."
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