Hero's farewell as Britain's oldest Royal Marine laid to rest at 105
Tributes have been paid at the funeral of Second World War warrior Jim Wren, who was torpedoed by the Japanese, held as a POW and had a portrait commissioned by the King.
Britain’s oldest Royal Marine has been laid to rest at the age of 105.
Hero James “Jim” Wren was rejected from both the Royal Air Force and British Army at the age of 19 but went on to become one of the elite regiment’s most celebrated fighters.
Sussex-born Jim was posted to join HMS Repulse in autumn 1940 but the battlecruiser was sunk by Japanese aircraft off the coast off Malaya, in what is now Malaysia.
On the morning of December 10 1941, Repulse and the battleship Prince of Wales formed part of Force Z, the British naval task force in the South China Sea sent to defend Singapore by deterring Japanese aggression in the Pacific.
With no air power to protect her, Repulse lasted just 80 minutes in battle despite a valiant effort by Jim and his shipmates who had been enjoying a brew when the alarm sounded.
Jim’s ship was hit in rapid succession by four or five torpedoes and sank with the loss of 513 men.
Speaking last year on the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) Jim recalled: “I dropped my tea and headed to my action station.
“The noise was terrific, it was one big noisy battle. Gun crews of all descriptions involved. There was no panic though, we’d been through the routines so regularly that we just got on with it. Everyone knew their role and we had such a good crew. We all had faith in each other…but all of a sudden she just rolled over and was gone.
“I lost a lot of friends. I still see them every night. I go to bed, and I seem to lay there and just view them as if it were yesterday.”
When Repulse sank Jim joined hundreds of shipmates in the debris-strewn South China Sea and swallowed so much oil that he threw up.
He was eventually rescued by destroyer HMS Electra and taken to Singapore with other survivors of the disaster. When the city fell to the Japanese army in February 1942 Jim helped to evacuate civilian men, women and children into boats and attempted to escape under the cover of darkness, but his boat was illuminated by the searchlight of a Japanese destroyer and he was caught.
The veteran was held as a prisoner of war in Sumatra until August 1945 when Japan surrendered.
Jim said: “At that stage we had almost got to a point of no return.
“We didn’t know when our next meal was coming or when our next drink was coming.
“They had no idea how to deal with prisoners of war, the Japanese – no idea. The guards would cut you down if you failed to salute them or bow to them..you expect to die if you’re fighting a war but not to perish under those circumstances.”
Last year, ahead of the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, Jim shared his extraordinary story with Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, patron of the Java Far East Prisoner of War Club 1942, four months after celebrating his 105th birthday.
The milestone saw him receive 200 cards from well-wishers and a telegram from The King and Queen. His portrait had previously been commissioned by King Charles when he was Prince of Wales.
Jim left the military in 1953 when he settled in Salisbury, Wiltshire, the hometown of his wife Margaret Bell who he married in 1946. She died in 2020.
After the war he worked for the council’s parks department before becoming the gardener and groundsman at Westwood St Thomas school.
His funeral was held at the city's St Thomas’s Church where the veteran was given a guard of honour by serving Royal Marines wearing distinctive white helmets as part of their ceremonial dress uniform.
The Royal Marines Association said: “Jim showed extraordinary resilience, humility and quiet strength throughout his life. His family did not even know if he had survived until Japan’s surrender in 1945
“Our thoughts are with Jim’s family, and we join them in thanking the staff at Old Sarum Manor Care Home for their care and compassion.”
