An Oakworth man who spent five years in prisoner of war camps during the Second World War has died.

Brian Asquith, of Hillside Avenue, died on May 17, aged 91. He was born in Halifax and joined the King's Royal Rifles in 1937 and in May 1940 he was shipped to Calais as part of the effort to try to hold off the Germans.

Following a fierce two-day battle he and his fellow soldiers ran out of ammunition and were captured.

He spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner in Poland and witnessed some of the brutal treatment meted out to victims of the Holocaust.

On his return to England, he telephoned his fiancee, Jean - who he had not seen for five years - and was rebuked for making a "personal call" to her office. The couple were married six weeks later.

After the war he became a farm worker, then took over and managed a village convenience store in 1966.

He retired to Oakworth in 1978.

Resident Sam Griffin, who knew him during his time in the village, described him as a "nice, gentle, shy man".

He added he always had a very high opinion of the Poles, because he remembered how they risked their lives to help prisoners during the war.

In 2000, Mr Asquith had a book published about his experiences. In it he wrote: "I cannot forget the deep feeling of comradeship that existed throughout the camps once we had got over that first period of starvation when self-preservation tended to spoil the community spirit sometimes."

Mr Asquith's funeral was held at Oakworth Crematorium last Thursday.