TRIBUTES have been paid to a Second World War veteran who twice escaped captors and was decorated for his heroics.

For decades, Alf Longstaff, of Middlestone Moor, County Durham, kept the true horrors he faced from his family.

But in the years before his death, at the age of 91 last Thursday, the former Army sergeant revealed the heroics that earned him a top military honour and the admiration of his home town.

Mr Longstaff's daughters, Rosemary Cowling, 65, Margaret Parker, 56, and Rita Ramparsad, 50, paid tribute to their father.

"When I was little, a teacher pointed outside and told the class 'that man is very brave'," recalled Mrs Parker.

"I looked outside and wondered who he meant - I could only see my dad.

"It was only in recent years that he talked to us about the war and I appreciated what he meant."

A tank commander, with the 4th and 7th Royal Tank Corps, Mr Longstaff survived the Battle of El Alamein and the Dunkirk landing.

After the war, he was presented with the Military Medal for courage and bravery in the face of enemy attack. The presentation was made by King George at Buckingham Palace.

The medal recognises his heroics on two consecutive days - first to reach his commanding officer's destroyed tank, then to cover the withdrawal of his battalion from Arras, in France.

He was also presented with an honorary award by the former Spennymoor Urban Council.

Mrs Ramparsad said: "He was extremely proud and we are so proud of him."

Mr Longstaff first escaped his German captors while posted in Libya and had to hide in a cave before rejoining his regiment.

But his most remarkable tale of survival came in 1942 when he and five comrades escaped a Nazi prisoner of war camp in Italy.

Mr Longstaff fell ill and was taken in by villagers in the Sorra region, where he sheltered in a stable.

While recovering, he worked with the Italian resistance movement and villagers protected him from Nazis by claiming he was insane and could not speak.

During that time his wife, Alice, who died in 1979, was told he was missing presumed dead and it was two years before his family discovered he was alive.

Mrs Cowling said: "His bravery has been an inspiration to the family. My son, Andrew, and daughter, Alison, followed him into the services.

"He lived for us all, especially his seven grandchildren and three great grandchildren."

Mr Longstaff's funeral is at St Paul's Church, in Spennymoor, today, followed by interment at Rock Road Cemetery.