Funeral for veteran of German WW2 prison camp

An army veteran who spent five years in a German prison camp during World War Two has been laid to rest.

Eric Reeves, from Godstone, Surrey, was a lance corporal in the Queen's Royal Regiment when advancing German troops captured him, aged 20, in France in 1940.

He died in December aged 104 and his funeral was held on Monday in Crawley.

His daughter Pam Reeves said her father was "a showman" who "liked to make people laugh".

The veteran told the BBC in April that he was marched through France with other prisoners for three days after his capture, but only given bread and water once.

"We were then put on cattle trucks with our knees up and crammed in, and transported to Poland," he said.

The soldier spent the five remaining years of the war in a prison camp in Szubin.

Russian troops liberated the camp in 1945.

His daughter said her father's "public face was always one of fun and laughter and joy" but that "there was a lot more going on behind the scenes" and he had post-traumatic stress disorder from his wartime experiences.

"I don't think as children we appreciated that although he made it funny, it really wasn't funny," she said.

"He always said that you can't explain to people what it's like.

"Only people who've been through similar things can understand and that was why I think it was so important to him that we remember those who'd given their lives."

The veteran previously told the BBC that after returning to Surrey he used some of his backpay from the army to take up ballroom dancing, through which he met his wife of 67 years, Hilda, by pretending to be a novice dancer to win her over.

He said: "We started a slow foxtrot and she said, 'you old fibber, you can dance'. I'll always remember that!"

Another of his daughters, Lesley Wood, said he started work at a brewery in Reigate after the war.

In later life he was "so thrilled that people appreciated what the soldiers and all the forces had done", she said.

Her sister said he joined veterans organisations in later life, where he "found people who understood how he felt, people who'd had similar experiences and who'd gone through similar things".

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