A FORMER diplomat and prisoner of war whose life story reads like a Boys Own adventure has died.

Friends and family have paid tribute to James Bourn, who was also described as a loving family man.

Mr Bourn, from Darlington, died on January 2 at the age of 94, and a humanist service commemorating his life was held last week.

He was brought up in Darlington, and was 22 when the Second World War broke out. He served as a signal officer with the Fifth India Division, however, he was captured in Libya in 1941 and was sent to Italy as a prisoner of war.

During his captivity, he relieved the boredom of imprisonment by learning languages. As well as the French and Urdu he already knew, he picked up Italian, German, Arabic and Greek from his fellow prisoners.

He also made several attempts to escape and on his third attempt, through a network of latrines and sewers, he was successful in his bid for freedom.

Mr Bourn and his close friend, Bernard Henman, then spent weeks scouring the Italian countryside trying to meet up with the approaching Allied forces.

They were helped in their bid by the Prati family, from near Bologna, who gave them refuge. On one occasion, however, when German forces used the Prati farm as the site of an anti-aircraft battery, they had to hide in the wine cellar for a week while the enemy soldiers prepared their defences upstairs.

The battery was targeted by Allied aircraft, and when Mr Bourn and his friends emerged from the smouldering wreckage they were liberated by US forces.

After the war, Mr Bourn remained in contact with the Prati family and made trips each year to visit them.

Mr Bourn returned to England and married his fiancee, Isobel, at Holy Trinity Church in Darlington. The couple had one son, David.

In civilian life, Mr Bourn worked for the diplomatic service in Tanzania, Zanzibar and Malawi.

He also rose to become ambassador of Somalia and worked in Istanbul as consul general.

During his time in the diplomatic service, he also learnt a further three languages – Swahili, Somali and Turkish.

He retired from the diplomatic service in 1975, but even then managed to complete a degree in Italian Studies at Edinburgh University.

After retirement, he lived in Gilling and Richmond, in North Yorkshire, before moving back to his home town of Darlington Speaking at his private funeral service, officiant Maggie Blunt said: “He was a devoted family man who took a particular delight in the prowess of his grandchildren, Sebastian and Camilla.”

Mr Bourn’s first wife, Isobel, died in 1977. He married his second wife, Moya, who died in the mid-Nineties.

He is survived by his son, David, and his two grandchildren.