FAMILY, friends and comrades turned out to celebrate the life of a decorated Dorchester war hero who was a real life James Bond.

Holy Trinity Church was packed for the funeral service of John Brereton, who died earlier this month at the age of 91.

Mr Brereton served in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and was part of Ian Fleming’s 30AU Commando Assault Unit.

Chairman of the Dorchester Royal Naval Association, George Osborne, who gave the eulogy at the service, said Mr Brereton – who was born in Bradford Abbas – tried to join the Army at 15 but was told to come back when he was 17.

Instead, when he turned 17 Mr Brereton joined the Marines and his service during the war saw him involved in the Malta convoys and the evacuation of Crete.

In January 1943 he was selected to join the 30AU intelligence unit, which was the brainchild of future James Bond author Mr Fleming and Lord Louis Mountbatten.

Mr Brereton used his skills as a photographer, having trained at Pinewood Studios, to photograph Normandy beaches and also trained as a linguist.

D-Day saw him land at Omaha beach and he was later involved in the capture of Nazi Grand Admiral Doenitz.

Mr Brereton was invalided out of the service in 1948 and went on to become the manager of a naval tailors on Portland and continue his love of photography.

His contribution during his time with the Marines saw him awarded the 1939-45 Star, The Defence Medal, Atlantic Star, Arctic Ice Star, African, Italian and French Star and a Gallantry Medal.

Paying tribute at the funeral, Mr Brereton’s son Paul said: “He was the best and is going to be missed by so many people. Thank you Dad for everything.”

Step-daughter Helen added: “You have been a wonderful example of devotion and discipline and heroism and kindness.

“You have been an inspiration.

“You were something else, inimitable, one of a kind, we loved you, we will miss you and we will remember you.”

In 1999 Mr Brereton and his wife Ruth – who gave a reading at the funeral – joined the Dorchester Branch of the Royal Naval Association. Mr Brereton took part in memorial events, with his last parade in Dorchester on Remembrance Day last year.

Mr Osborne said: “John we salute you and we are proud to have known you.”

• The 30AU Commando Assault Unit was founded in September 1942 as an offensive naval intelligence unit.

The idea behind the unit came from naval Commander Ian Fleming and Chief of the Combined Forced Lord Louis Mountbatten in response to the Germans’ Abwehrkommando intelligence gathering teams.

Under the Official Secrets Act, the unit didn’t officially exist and details of its work were kept secret for 50 years.

Members were forbidden to discuss their activities and operated on a need-to-know basis.

The unit’s first forays saw it involved in Operation Torch in North Africa and the invasion of Sicily as well as operations in Lebanon, Italy and Norway.

The unit played a key role in the D-Day landings before helping to liberate France and in May 1945 captured the German Naval Base at Bremen in Germany.