Former Royal Marine and East Kent Mercury photographer Basil Kidd died on Monday, aged 85.

He will be remembered by thousands of people in the Deal area, not only for his associations with the Walmer barracks but also through his pictures of weddings in the town.

As a boy Mr Kidd sang with the depot choir at the Church of St Michael and All Angels, much later joking he was one of the angels.

He became a member of the Royal Marine Cadets, later a band boy and served with the corps overseas during the Second World War. He was on board ships in the worst of all sea areas, the Russian convoys.

Mr Kidd, of Wellington Parade, Kingsdown, retired from the band service after a career as an oboist and fleet photographer in the home, Mediterranean and Far East fleets.

He put this experience to good use when, as a Deal freelance photographer based in Victoria Road, he took photos at the Royal Marines barracks in Walmer and also for the East Kent Mercury until the late 1990s.

After the bombing of the barracks in 1989, he was one of those who took his oboe out of retirement and played in the All Stars Band specially formed to raise money for the disaster fund.

Basil Kidd died at the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, on Monday. He leaves a daughter Annette, sons Nick and James, and a granddaughter Alice.

A Service of Thanksgiving for Mr Kidd will be held at 1pm on Friday, November 7, at St George's Church, High Street, Deal.

A private cremation takes place on Wednesday. The family has requested no flowers, but donations if required can be given to the Deal Memorial Bandstand, c/o E.B.Cavell, 25 Albert Road, Deal, 01304 373275.