LONDON -- A church in Wales has launched an appeal on Facebook to find mourners to attend the funeral of an 85-year-old veteran who has no family or friends remaining.
Harold Morgan, who had been living in a care home in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan for the past 14 years, had served in the Welsh Guards and was posted to Egypt during that time.
"We were given no next of kin details, which was very unusual," Reverend Rachel Simpson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"I was worried that there would only be the solicitor and the nurses from the nursing home at the service and I thought that's not a very nice way to go."
So she posted this message on the church's Facebook page about the service:
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Post by St Tathan Church, St Athan.
Since the message was posted, it has emerged that Morgan was a founding member of the Welsh Railways Research Circle and had authored several books on the subject.
Responding to the post on Facebook, Rodney Hall, also a member of the Welsh Railways Research Circle said he knew Morgan from the 1970s.
"He is a former railwayman having worked as a signalman in the Reading area," Hall commented. "I and other members of the Circle will be present at both Thursday's and Friday's ceremonies."
Other ex-servicemen and relatives of veterans, although not acquainted with Morgan, also commented on Facebook that they would attend the service.
Last month, more than 50 people attended the service of an 89-year-old D-Day veteran who died with no close family remaining to mourn him.