“The country has lost a hero” as a “kind, modest and caring” RAF WW2 veteran has died, aged 93.

Great-grandfather Tommy Thomas died at his home, in Harmondsworth, surrounded by family, on the morning of Friday August 28.

He leaves behind his devoted wife of 46 years, Armelle, and two children, Alan, 69 and Leslie, 67.

Tommy was born in France in January 1922 and came to the UK on an exchange aged 13. He began volunteering at RAF Uxbridge aged 17.

After target towing in Llandow, Wales, helping train fighter pilots to hit targets, he was selected for Tempsford Special Duties Squadron 161 aged 21.

During the Second World War, Tommy was an air-gunner involved in secretive and dangerous night-time Mail Pick-Up (MPU) operations, on board a specially adapted Lysander, with a 15ft bamboo cane and hook suspended below the aircraft.

Dashing: Tommy in his RAF days

Bob Large, now 93-years-old, was Tommy's pilot and will proudly wear his medals as a mark of respect.

He said: “When he was in the RAF he was young, fit, a good looking chap, very conscientious, light-hearted and friendly.

“There's quite a lot of understanding between pilot and crew and he and I got on very well. He was the most wonderful crew that you could possibly find.

“By the end of the war, it was only he and I who did mail pick-up and we stayed until after D-Day.”

Tommy left the RAF in 1946 and joined BEA and spent 46 years at Heathrow Airport, where he met his wife, Armelle.

She said: “We were downstairs in Terminal 1 in the VIP lounge. I had my eye on him immediately, he was dashing now and dashing then.”

They married on October 15 1969 and Armelle moved into Tommy's house in the village “he fell in love with,” she told getwestlondon.

Armelle said: “The day I married him it all became about Tommy. He was my partner, my soulmate, my love, my best friend and a hero of the country. If I was to do it all again, from the beginning. I would."

Tommy was recognised for his bravery during the war in 1991 and awarded the Légion D'honneur for courage by the French government.

Proud: Tommy's Special Duties Squadron 161 crest

Tommy was taken in to Hillingdon Hospital and discharged after two days, three weeks before his death.

“He wanted to be looked after and cared for at home," his wife said. "We couldn’t fault anyone at the hospital. He was on Grange Ward and I'd like to give a massive thank you to them, they bought me so much time with him.”

Armelle promised Tommy he would die in his much-loved Harmondsworth home, adding: “A promise made is a promise kept.”

Tommy's funeral will take place on Wednesday September 16, where he will leave Harmondsworth Village Green at 12.30pm for a church service at St Andrew's Church, Uxbridge at 1.30 pm.

He coffin will be draped in a Union Jack flag, and his wife asks, rather than wear black, people choose to wear something pale blue, or something bright or wear a ribbon representing the RAF colours.

This will be followed by a short service and committal at Breakspeare Crematorium, Ruislip, at 2.45 pm, where two songs will be played: You're Always on My Mind and Candle In the Wind.

There will be family flowers only and donations are suggested to be made to Kennedy Ward Trust Fund at Hillingdon Hospital.