HUNDREDS of people are expected to attend the funeral of a war veteran today in Southampton - although most of them will have never met him.

A campaign to give the ex-serviceman and “brave soldier” a fitting send-off went viral after his life story was shared online.

George Peter Osborne was an RAF signaller in Bomber Command during the Second World War.

A quiet man, George, who lived on Bassett Avenue, didn’t talk much about his war work.

But a photo album the 96-year-old veteran left behind gives a fascinating insight into his life as a courageous airman and intrepid adventurer.

Now the images have been shared in a bid to celebrate George’s life after only two people planned to attend his funeral.

One of them was Helder Zafarino, a chef from St Mary’s who met George 17 years ago when they both worked at the now demolished Southampton Park Hotel.

After George retired they stayed in touch and remained firm friends but when George died on January 20 Helder was the only living person named in the will.

So Helder set about arranging George’s funeral.

He took a photograph album left by George to funeral director Paul Capper – who was shocked when he started to look through the images.

Paul was taken aback by the “historical importance” of the album Helder had brought in. Besides shots of George and his friends, there were images showing his time in the RAF, as well as shots of Field Marshall Montgomery arriving in India – and of the Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten’s personal plane.

Photos of George and a friend called Eric show the adventurous pair trekking to the Kaiber Pass while snake charmers and dancing bears, pet monkeys and Indian acrobats show the world through the eyes of the dapper soldier and daring adventurer.

“Spielberg couldn’t create it,” said Paul Capper. “It’s like something out of Hollywood.

“There’s a picture of a Lancaster Bomber landing and the ground crew are obviously applauding it."

Realising the importance of the photos, and the fact that so few people would be going to the funeral, Paul started a social media campaign to get more people to give George a send-off he deserves.

Now George will be given full military honours at the funeral – which takes place today at the East Chapel of Southampton Crematorium at 9.45am today. More than 100 people have said they will go.

“It’s such a joy to give him the send-off he deserves," Paul said.

Helder added: “He was a very quiet man. He didn’t talk about the war very much. But he saw the world from the skies and from the sea.

“He was a person who was happy to help anyone and was very active even for a 96-year-old. He was always getting on the bus to Southampton or Portsmouth.

“He was like a father to me. If I had a problem I could always phone him up to talk. The funeral makes me very happy – this is what he deserves as someone who did so much for his country.”