REMARKABLE war veteran Jack Paulley, who once told King George VI to shift his car and had a perfect answer when Prince Phillip asked why he only had two war medals, has died aged 89.

Along with fellow members of Veterans of Dunkirk, Jack met the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Bournemouth last year.

While the other former soldiers wore impressive rows of medals, Jack - who spent five years as a prisoner of war - had only two.

Prince Phillip asked Jack why he had so few medals, to which Jack boldly replied: "I sort of got caught, sir."

At the start of the war he unwittingly told King George VI to shift his car after spotting two men getting out of a vehicle. When one of the be-suited men asked Jack if he knew who the other was, Jack said he didn't care - the car needed to be shifted.

Jack was shocked when he was told it was the King he was trying to order about. Luckily the King agreed Jack was right and the car was moved.

Touching tributes have been played to the former Royal Engineer who was captured while trying to delay the German troops advancing on Dunkirk.

He spent the next five years in Stalag XXB in Poland, where he worked on a local farm and would hide eggs in his trousers to share with fellow POWs.

He used the farmer's radio to listen to broadcasts from England.

When liberated, Jack walked from Poland to Berlin to seek transport home.

He later worked as a caretaker at Avonbourne School.

Daughter Ann Paulley, of Boscombe East, said: "We've had so many cards and calls. Everybody says Dad was such a nice gentleman, a hard worker and friendly.

"I've never known anyone who enjoyed life as much as he did."

Fellow members of the Veterans of Dunkirk (Bournemouth, Poole and District), of which Jack was vice-president, formed a guard of honour at his funeral at Bournemouth Crematorium yesterday (February 1).

Veterans' president Arthur Taylor said: "He will be missed by all of us."

Jack's wife Phyllis died several years ago. He is survived by four of his seven children; Ann, Peter, Carol and Mark, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

First published: February 2