Tributes have poured in to the family of war hero Brigadier Jock Hamilton-Baillie, who has died, aged 84.

John Robert Edward Hamilton-Baillie, who lived at Rectory House, Stanford in the Vale, was involved in some of the most famous prison-camp break-outs of the Second World War.

He died on April 16 -- 58 years to the day after being liberated from Colditz. In the same year he was awarded the Military Cross for his brave and persistent attempts to break out of prison camps.

His famous attempts included the 'Warburg Wire Job' in 1942, when he helped stage a mass escape which involved secret tunnels, a trapeze bar and a decoy disturbance. Although more than 40 prisoners escaped, Brigadier Hamilton-Baille was among a group caught while attempting to flee through a tunnel.

He married Lettice Pumphrey in 1947. She died in August 2001.

On retiring from a distinguished Army career, he moved to Stanford in the Vale in 1974, taking up a post at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham, teaching soil mechanics.

His wife had a stroke at the age of 44 which left her disabled and he spent the next 36 years caring for her.

They were well known for their Strawberry Tea events held for villagers at Rectory House every summer for many years.

Brigadier Hamilton-Baillie was a Deanery of the Synod of the Vale of White Horse, carrying out work for the local church. He supported youth events in the village and helped set up a youth club in the 1970s.

The couple would take part in the village fete each year. He was known for raising a small fortune for the village with a darts stand he had designed using his engineering and maths knowledge to create an optical illusion.

The couple had two sons, two daughters and eight grandchildren.

The funeral was held at St Deny's Church in the village on April 23.