Fifty years ago this week, the nation watched as Sir Winston Churchill's funeral cortege passed through London's streets.

Bocking man David Wright had a front row view - as one of the chosen few to pull the gun carriage carrying the former Prime Minister's coffin.

Churchill died on January 24, 1965 aged 90, following a stroke nine days earlier.

His funeral, held on January 30, was the largest state funeral in world history up to that point.

Mr Wright, of Ashpole Road, was just 27 at the time and taking a naval police course in Portsmouth when he was chosen to help pull the gun carriage.

* Full story in tomorrow's Braintree and Witham Times.