A fond farewell to WW2 and one of the last survivors of The Greatest Raid
[gallery] Mourners have said goodbye to one of the last survivors of what was deemed The Greatest Raid of All Time, which took place during the Second World War.
Family, friends and fellow military comrades of the late John Rafferty, aged 95, paid tribute to the Royal Navy mechanic, who was one of the last remaining veterans of the St Nazaire Raid of March 28, 1942.
The raid saw the British disguise the redundant destroyer HMS Campbeltown as a Swastika-emblazoned German warship and pack it with explosives in a ploy to blow up the key German-occupied port in Normandy.
Though Operation Chariot, as it was officially called, was successful in rendering the port useless for the rest of the war, Mr Rafferty was captured by the Nazis and was a prisoner of war for three years. He was one of 215 prisoners taken by the Germans.
A total of 169 of 611 British sailors were killed in the raid. Mr Rafferty spent the remainder of the war at the Marlag und Milag Nord prisoner camp for the Royal Navy in Germany. His family were told he had been killed and were unaware for a long time he had been held captive.
Before retiring, he worked as a caretaker at Highfields School. He married Hilda in 1946 but she passed away in 2008. Mr Rafferty also raised his step-daughter Shirley from the age of six, and had two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Mr Rafferty's funeral took place on Monday at St Paul's Church, Coven, and was attended by military personnel and standard bearers. A special bugle call was made at the graveside as Mr Rafferty was finally put to rest. Grandson Paul Watton, aged 46, of Pendeford, said: "He was a kind and caring man who would do anything for anyone."
Speaking at the service, Parish Priest Malcolm Lockey said: "The world was a better place for having him part of it."
