Hundreds of strangers turned out to mourn a Second World War veteran after an appeal in a regional daily.

The Manchester Evening News urged readers to pay tribute following the death of 92-year-old Tom Bryan, pictured left as a young man, who fought in Burma during the war.

His last surviving family member, nephew Tony Budgett, 51, from Romiley, Stockport , feared he and his young family would be the only mourners at Tom’s funeral – until an online appeal through the MEN prompted an avalanche of support.

More than 400 people turned out to pay their respects at Stockport Crematorium last Tuesday.

The story echoes a similar appeal by Blackpool daily The Gazette, which saw around 500 people attend the funeral of RAF veteran Harold Jellicoe Percival in 2013.

In his eulogy at Tom’s funeral, Tony said he was “truly humbled” and “deeply grateful” to the public and the forces for their support.

He also thanked the media for “sensitively” raising awareness of Tom’s story, particularly the MEN and its sister paper the Stockport Express for starting a wave of publicity, which led to the story being shared as far away as North America and Africa.

A piece in the MEN reads: “For our freedom, Tom Bryan and so many like him endured horrific circumstances the vast majority of us can only imagine – many ultimately paid with their lives.

“Many others, who made it home, spent the rest of their lives haunted. The vast majority of people who attended his funeral had never met Tom, but nonetheless felt the overwhelming need to pay their respects to him as he took his final journey.

“For many, it was a chance to not only honour a man who fought so valiantly for his country, but a chance to bear witness to what he, and the countless other ‘Toms’ did for us all.

“A chance to reflect and offer thanks to an entire generation, who gave their todays for our tomorrows.”

After joining the Army as a young man, Tom found himself stationed in India during the early years of the war, when Singapore fell to the Japanese. His unit ended up stranded in Burma for three hellish weeks.

Once the war ended, Tom became a brick layer and went on to settle in Cheshire. He never married or had children, and for many years could not bring himself to speak about the things he had endured.