A VETERAN of the Dunkirk evacuation, who was also awarded the prestigious Burma Star, has died.

Leslie Creese, a Worcester man born and bred, died aged 82 on Wednesday.

He had recently celebrated his diamond wedding anniversary with his wife Joan on January 31.

The two met on the streets of the Lincolnshire town of Spalding in August 1940, where Mr Creese was stationed following his evacuation from Dunkirk.

"I saw Leslie with another soldier," said Mrs Creese, "I was very shy then and would not talk to anyone, but he began talking to me."

The couple fell in love and after two-and-a-half years of courting, they were married at St George's Church, Worcester in 1943.

But almost immediately after the wedding, Mr Creese was sent to fight in Africa, India and then Burma.

He was a gunner in the Royal Artillery Regiment and for his service in Burma he was awarded the Burma Star.

Wartime experiences

Mr Creese was always unwilling to speak about his wartime experiences, so his family do not have many details about his time in Burma.

He returned to England in 1946, after three years away, and settled with his wife in Worcester, where he worked at a bakery, then the Corona factory on New Bank Street as a salesman for 30 years.

He and his wife lived in the same house in Sabrina Walk, Barbourne, for 46 years.

Mr Creese's eldest son, Robert, aged 56, said his father was a straight-talking man.

"He called a spade a spade," said Robert. "He did not mince his words.

"People will remember him for being a fair bloke. If you asked anything from him he would make a fuss, but you would still get it.

"He had five children, 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grand children and he loved them all."

Mr Creese's funeral will be held on Wednesday at Astwood Road Crematorium, Worcester, at 11.30am. His ashes will be scattered on the grounds of St Stephen's Church, in Beech Avenue.