Salford Veterans Network has invited all citizens to honour Salford war hero at his funeral on Monday, December 10th.
Flying Officer Walter Bentley RAF has died aged 97 and has no surviving family members.
His funeral will take place at the Agecroft Cemetery at 1pm.
He volunteered for service during World War II at just 21 when he was drafted to train as a pilot, and qualified after two years of intensive training in the UK and Florida.
His Short Stirling bomber was shot down by enemies near the town of Nijmegen during his first mission – a supply run during the battle for the Arnhem Bridge.
Walter crash-landed his burning bomber in a field in ally territory, saving all five of his crew members, and his own life.
The Salford War Hero went back to fighting Hitler’s forces only a week after his incident.
Walter completed multiple combat missions over Northwest Germany and Holland, dropping SOE agents into Norway not far from where he was shot down, and helping bring the end to Nazi terror across the world.
After the war, he lived a humble life in a semi-detached house in Salford.
He was a cabinet maker at the CWS factory in Radcliffe, then a bus driver and recruitment officer with Salford City Transport.
Walter married Gladys in 1955, who died in 2007; they had no children.
He built model railway engines as a hobby.
He was awarded a Star with Bomber Command clasp, and the France and Germany Star War Medal.
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