Final farewell to Battle of Britain hero
00:00, 09 January 2003
THERE was a reminder that war leaves mental as well as physical scars at the funeral service of Battle of Britain pilot Roger Hall who lived at Dover.
The town's St Mary's Church, where Mr Hall was a regular worshipper, was filled with serving and former RAF men and women for the moving service before he was laid to rest in St James' Cemetery.
Mr Hall died at his Dover flat on December 19, aged 85. His coffin was carried into church draped in the Union Jack on which were Flight Lieutenant Hall's cap and his medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Among those present were representatives of Dover Air Training Corps of which he had once been the Commanding Officer. The Rev David Ridley recalled how Mr Hall had, through much of his life, grappled with mental turmoil as a result of his war service, suffering mental breakdowns.
Bernard Hyde, of the Battle of Britain Trust, contributed a reading as did one of Mr Hall's friends, journalist Terry Sutton.