A HAWORTH veteran of the Second World War in Burma has died, aged 90.

Brian Mitchell had been in Herncliffe Care Home, Keighley, but before that he lived in Charlotte Court, off Lees Lane, Haworth for about 30 years. He died at Herncliffe on February 9.

He joined the military as a teenager during the closing stages of the war, and was involved in the 14th Army's arduous mopping up campaign against diehard Japanese troops in Burma in 1945.

His son, Ian, said: “He didn’t speak about the war until he was older, as he didn’t want to upset me.

“But he told me about wading through waist-high swamps with his gun held over his head, and getting ambushed on reconnaissance missions.

“One of my dad’s mates was killed by a grenade thrown by a Japanese soldier who was supposed to be surrendering.

“My dad got malaria and ended up in hospital in Mandalay. The Americans took him to hospital strapped to the front of a jeep.”

Mr Mitchell was born in Haworth, the youngest of four children.

During the war he served with 2nd Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry and with 2nd Battalion of the 5th Gurkhas.

He was one of the last British soldiers to be shipped out of Burma, not returning home until autumn of 1947. By then he had reached the rank of sergeant.

His older brother, Jack Mitchell, was also a soldier in the war, seeing action at Dunkirk in 1940 and the liberation of Normandy in 1944.

Outside of the army Brian Mitchell worked as an apprentice overlooker at Robert Clough’s Mill, in Ingrow, then as an overlooker at Haggas’ mill and a production manager at Thornton’s Spinning Company, in Bradford.

He even served in Clough’s Mill’s part time fire fighting force.

But his main career was in the building industry, where he worked for 29 years after initially setting up his own scrap business then a plant hire firm.

Ian Mitchell said: “He was very well known and had a lot of friends around town.

“He was always extremely fit and was never seriously ill until he was 89. He was into athletics and used to go running at Cross Roads Cricket Club every night.

“His other hobbies included joinery and skeet shooting. He was an armourer during the war, so he knew a lot about guns and how to look after them.

“Anything he needed he would do it himself, and he even built his own bungalow at Charlotte Court.

“My dad was also a 5th Dan in the martial art Bujitsu, which he learned while living in London.

“He really liked cars, so instead of going on holiday he used to buy himself a new car every two years.

“They were always sporty cars – he had Jaguars, Mercedes, BMWs and Maseratis.

“And he would usually have about 15 to 20 suits. Whenever he went out he’d be immaculate, with not a hair out of place.”

Mr Mitchell’s wife, Kathleen, died 10 years ago. The couple had met at a dance in Keighley when they both 22.

As well as his son, Mr Mitchell also leaves two grandchildren – Liam and Shannon.

His funeral service is on March 2 at 1.30pm at the Knowle Funeral Parlour, followed by cremation at Oakworth.