COURAGE, endurance, kindness and humour in the face of adversity were among the lifetime qualities of former prisoner of war Harold Watts.

The funeral of the 88-year-old, a well-known figure in Broadstairs and Ramsgate, will take place at Thanet Crematorium this Wednesday (January 9) at 1.10pm.

Mr Watts, who was born in Birmingham, joined the Royal Engineers at the outbreak of the Second World War. He served in the Middle East with the British North African Force until 1945 and then the British Liberation Army.

He was part of the team sweeping for mines during the battle of El Alamein in north Africa.

Mr Watts was captured by the Germans in 1942 when his regiment was crossing into Libya. He later escaped, but he carried the legacy of his service with shrapnel wounds and damaged hearing and was crippled with arthritis and rheumatism.

Mr Watts worked for many years as a security officer with the Metropolitan Police, retiring to Upton Road, Broadstairs, with wife Frieda in the mid-1980s.

He returned to the Met for a spell, and was a member of the Met’s club for civilian staff and the Army’s Prisoner of War Escapee Club.

The couple ran Leon’s Cafe in Addington Street, Ramsgate, for several years and latterly lived in Wilson Road in the town.

His daughter Margaret said: “My father believed in a stiff upper lip and that when times were tough with the right attitude and a kind word you could get through your most difficult moments.

“He was a great person and anyone who met him knew of his wonderful ability to muster his troops and forward march, which he did when he escaped with his men from outside Tobruk.

“A toast to a wonderful man who gave so much for his country and could turn sad times into laughter.”

Mr Watts lived latterly at Pembroke Court, Ramsgate, although for his last nine months he was ill in hospital.

He is survived by his wife and children Malcolm, Margaret, and Richard and grandchildren Naden and Peri, who all live in Ramsgate.