Pritam, 109, was the man with nine lives

But Pritam Singh Dhirpur has sadly died, at the age of 109.

His family today remembered him as a 'beloved dad, amazing grandad' and a 'true warrior and an inspiration to his great grandchildren'.

Father-of-five Mr Singh was born on January 1, 1905 – the same year the Wright Brothers took to the skies in their Wright Flyer III aircraft – in the village of Dhirpur, in the Punjab region of India.

In 1921 he married Charan Kaur, who he went on to spend the next 88 years of his life with.

During the Second World War he served as a gunner with the British Indian Army, stationed at Jamshedpur, in India.

He was captured by the Japanese while fighting in Hong Kong in 1941 and was kept there as a prisoner of war until 1945.

During that time he saw several of his friends murdered in front of his own eyes and he himself survived being tortured.

His grand-daughter Nikki Winfield grew up in the same house he lived in and remembers his tales of the war.

She said: "They used to beat him up. They used to hit his kneecaps to try and break his legs and they used to starve him. When they did want him to eat they used to chuck him leaves."

She added that her grandfather did not think he would make it back home from the war after being captured.

"His family thought he had been killed," she said. "By the time he got back he had an eight-year-old son. "He's got that many scars where he was tortured and he used to tell us what they did to him. His best friend died in front of him. He watched them kill him. He's gone through so much trauma."

He faced more difficulties back in India.

In the 1950s, Mr Singh was attacked by a gang of rival villagers who left him for dead.

They kidnapped him from the village centre and took him back to his home, where they slashed his throat and body with knives.

His sons came to the rescue and took him to find medical help. Speaking on behalf of the family, Ms Winfield, aged 37, of Himley Close, Willenhall, said: "We always said that Pritam was a true survivor with nine lives – or more."

Back in India, Mr Singh had been a farmer, building his own home on his land. He came to England in 1967, settling into a small terraced house on Hart Road, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton before moving to nearby Neachells Lane. His wife and children joined him a few years later.

He found employment as a foundry worker at the E Nicklin and Sons Roundcroft Works in Field Street, Willenhall, where he remained until retirement, cycling to work every day as he never learned to drive. Ms Winfield said: "Even when he retired he was such a fit, strong man. That many times he was in hospital and we thought he wasn't going to make it, but he fought and fought every time."

She added: "He was a true warrior because he had been ill that many times and he fought pneumonia and he had that many heart attacks and he had angina."

A devoted Sikh, Mr Singh's family took him to worship at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Well Lane, Wednesfield up until the final couple of years of his life when he was more or less bed-ridden.

In 2012, at the age of 107, he even travelled back to his home village in India to spend an extended 18 months with his eldest son, Surinder Singh, who still lives there.

Ms Winfield said: "He used to go every year when he was fit enough to go – every February without fail."

Mr Singh lived with his five children throughout his life, but spent his later years with his son Joginder Singh and daughter-in-law Gurbans Kaur at their home in Broad Lane North, Willenhall. Ms Winfield recalled growing up in a house together with her grandparents. She said: "They lived with my mum so I lived with them. They were like my mum and dad.

"They were the parents for everybody. They used to do all the school runs.

"He brought us all up. They were more like parents than grandparents."

Mr Singh died of natural causes on Monday at New Cross Hospital. He leaves his children Surinder Singh, 76, Joginder Singh, 67, Suba Singh, 64, who is Ms Winfield's father, Joginder Kaur, 62, and Joga Singh, 59, as well as his grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.

The family still holiday at a property built by his sons in his home village in India, where they have placed an engraved sign bearing their father's name.