HUNDREDS of strangers have attended the funeral of a Scottish soldier who served in World War II.
Stewart Cooney died aged 95 in a care home in Leeds last month having outlived his family, leading to a social media appeal for mourners.
READ MORE: Women who breastfeed in Chamber of the House of Commons are exhibitionists
Royal British Legion standard bearers, a piper and soldiers from the Royal Artillery, his old regiment, were on hand in a service that proved to be standing room only.
Members of the public and Army Reserve soldiers also gathered at the packed ceremony that saw all seats inside Rawdon Crematorium taken, with mourners left outside watching the service on television screens.
One organiser, Martyn Simpson, said: "We never let a brother go alone."
The hearse was escorted to the crematorium by dozens of motorbikers from the Royal British Legion.
READ MORE: Women who breastfeed in Chamber of the House of Commons are exhibitionists
Stacey Williams, carer at Carlton Lodge where Mr Cooney died, said he would have been amazed by the turnout.
She said: "He was the kind of man who just didn't expect that kind of thing."
Mr Cooney was born in Dundee in 1921 and originally trained to be a jute weaver.
He enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1943 and fought in Sicily and Egypt before taking part in the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.
1944 also saw him marry Betty, a Royal Artillery telephonist, at Dalmeny Church in Midlothian in 1944, and in 1953 they adopted a son, Niall.
He worked as a loom tuner at a mill in Farsley, near Leeds, and died at Colton Lodges Nursing Home in June.
READ MORE: Women who breastfeed in Chamber of the House of Commons are exhibitionists
Celebrant Lynda Gomersall elicited a laugh from the congregation as she recounted his days at the nursing home, describing him as a "cheeky chappie" who "tried his luck with the ladies".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article