The RAF Association encouraged dozens of mourners to attend the funeral service of an RAF veteran in Shrewsbury, who otherwise would have had a pauper’s funeral

Harold ‘Lee’ Tracey, who was understood to have also worked for the security services following the Second World War, died at the age of 93 after suffering a stroke.

Thanks to a volunteer who knew him through the Royal Air Forces Association, Lee was given a military funeral, with 30 serving personnel from RAF Shawbury’s 60 Squadron forming a guard of honour and a further seven personnel as pallbearers. .

RAF Association befriender Nick Nicholson said: “Lee was a wonderful, highly intelligent gentleman whom I will miss tremendously. I’m so pleased that we were able to give him this send-off.

“Whilst giving the eulogy I looked up, and it was then that a tear came to my eye when I saw the number of people who had made the effort for Lee.”

Lee, who lived alone in Oswestry following the death of his wife five years ago, received welfare support and companionship through the RAF Association, of which he had been a lifetime member.

150 people attended his funeral, which was standing room only, including members of the public, veterans and serving personnel. The service was led by the Chaplain of RAF Shawbury, the Reverend Alastair Bissell.

Warrant Officer Nick Williams, community engagement officer at RAF Shawbury, said: “We felt very honoured to be part of Lee’s funeral. None of us at RAF Shawbury knew him, but we feel strongly that he was part of our family – the RAF family.”

The service, which took place at Emstrey Crematorium, was also attended by standard bearers from the Association’s Ellesmere Branch, plus 10 members of the 1165 (Oswestry) Air Training Corps and representatives from the Royal British Legion, as well as dozens of members of the public who learned of Lee’s funeral through an appeal put out across social media.

Lee Tracey was born in Omagh, Northern Ireland, in 1926. His father, an RAF officer, died when he was five-years-old, and he and his sisters were given up for adoption by their mother two years later. Lee was raised in England, at an orphanage in Stoney Stratford.

After leaving the orphanage, Lee was enlisted in the RAF in 1943 and quickly moved to RAF Intelligence. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and posted to Egypt, India and Iraq, where he worked on cryptography and surveillance. He left the RAF in 1947.

Lee continued throughout his life to be involved in intelligence activities around the world, and invented a number of surveillance systems and devices, including the Scanlock Harmonic Receiver.

It is understood he worked for the security services until 1970, and thereafter worked as a freelance consultant. In 1978 he founded the company Audiotel International, which to this day remains a market leader in surveillance equipment.

Lee met singer and actress Maria Wagg while at work, and the two fell in love and married in 1961. They had a long and happy life together, moving to settle in Oswestry in 2002.

Following Maria’s death in 2014, Lee became isolated and lonely, until the RAF Association stepped in to provide support. He was introduced to volunteer befriender Nick Nicholson, who visited him regularly to offer companionship. Lee also received money from the charity for a new fridge freezer and TV, plus a holiday at a Wings Break hotel for RAF veterans.

Tim Potter, Chairman of the RAF Association’s Ellesmere and Oswestry Branch, said: “It was a privilege to have attended the funeral. Without Nick Nicholson’s hard work to bring Lee’s situation to our attention this would have been a pauper’s funeral, which Lee certainly did not deserve.

“We’re so pleased that the RAF Association was able to support Lee in his final years, as well as at the very end.”