THE funeral of a Second World War veteran who was blinded in battle has been held.

Paratrooper Ray Sheriff dropped in with thousands of others at the Battle of Arnhem – which was depicted in the award-winning film A Bridge Too Far.

Despite his injuries, Mr Sheriff completed numerous fundraising marathons and parachute jumps in his later life for various charities.

After the war he lived for a time at St Dunstan’s in Ovingdean, now Blind Veterans UK, where he met his wife Betty in 1981.

He died at the age of 94 on December 27, having lived the last years of his life in Rottingdean.

Scores of relatives and veterans turned out for the service at Woodvale Crematorium in Brighton this afternoon.

Betty said: “He was so incredibly active, he never let anything stop him.

“He also wasn’t bitter about the war, he saw the Germans as soldiers just like him.

“He was a fantastic man.”

Speaking to The Argus last year, Mr Sheriff said: “When you’re a young man you feel invincible, don’t you? We all had a job to do.”