[Firbeck - one of our members]

Hi ~ just wanted to let you all know that some of Pete's (Firbeck) family have read your comments and taken comfort from how well thought of he was and how much he has contributed to your forum over the years.  We knew he wrote on these pages but not of what and we knew he sometimes disagreed quite vehemently on a number of subjects and was pretty controversial and outspoken at times ~ but that was Pete and that was part of what made him, him. It's all been pretty unreal and upsetting as it was totally unexpected and out of the blue.  Yes there was a postmortem but we still haven't had the results yet, so are still in the dark as to why he died. We had a pretty good send off for him down in Braintree, the Crematorium was built on an old wartime prisoner of war camp, so we felt it was in keeping with his wartime interests.  There was a pretty big turn out for him and family and friends spoke warmly and affectionately of him of shared adventures and of his life, it was a celebration of his life rather than being too sad about his death.  I like to think we gave him a good send off and that if he was looking down he would have had a few chuckles and been pretty pleased with how it all went.  There were no flowers but everyone who attended wore poppies, as the Royal British Legion was close to his heart and he always attended a remembrance service on 11th of 11th where-ever possible.  We're all going to miss him dreadfully and not a day goes by without us thinking of him.  It was all particularly hard on his son, Jack. Thank you again to everyone who posted on here, it really is appreciated. Wendy xx