Stirring farewell to 'indomitable, fearless' Jack Edwards

Hundreds bid farewell to war veteran and ex-servicemen's campaigner Jack Edwards in a packed St John's Cathedral yesterday.

After the Last Post was sounded, the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir paid tribute to their countryman with a rousing rendition of Men of Harlech as his coffin, draped in an historic Union flag, was taken down the aisle at the end of an emotional service. Edwards, who suffered a stroke five years ago and was in deteriorating health, died on August 13, aged 88.

His widow, Polly Tam So-lan, walked behind the coffin, greeting those who came to say goodbye to the man described as 'indomitable and fearless' in a tribute by his friend Michael Boyden.

Cardiff-born Edwards was a prisoner of war for four years at Kinkaseki copper mine in Taiwan, where he was one of only 40 of the 524 prisoner-of-war labourers to survive.

He recounted his horrific experiences at the hands of his Japanese captors in his book Banzai, You Bastards! The book was referred to in the eulogy by the president of the local branch of the Royal British Legion, Christopher Hammerbeck, in what was probably the first time 'bastards' was uttered from the cathedral lectern.

Edwards fought to secure pensions and British passports for war veterans and their wives and widows, which were eventually granted on the day before the handover.