FIREFIGHTERS from across the county saluted one of their own toay, as the head of a dynasty of firemen was laid to rest.

Forty serving and retired firefighters gathered at Didcot Fire Station to provide a guard of honour for Lawrence Didcock, who served as a firefighter in the town for 35 years.

Mr Didcock died of a heart attack on Friday, November 6, aged 81.

His two sons Nigel and Michael, both of whom followed him into the fire service, led a procession past the station on the way to the funeral in Streatley.

A vintage brass fire helmet was placed alongside his coffin, which was draped in the Union Flag.

Michael, 45, said: “Nigel and I were honoured to take him past the fire station. He served there for such a long time.”

Alongside his sons and brother Francis, Mr Didcock’s family have manned Didcot Fire Station for 73 continuous years. After Mr Didcock retired in 1983, he continued to work for the Fire Service National Benevolent Fund.

Group manager Bob Swanton, who led the salute, said: “Cut him in half, and it would say ‘Fire service’.

“Laurie was an absolute gentleman.

“Whenever you met him, he wanted to chat to you and had lots of time for you.”

Mr Didcock joined the fire service in 1948, after three years serving with the RAF in Germany.

During his career, he attended the 1955 Milton rail crash, the 1967 Didcot train crash, and the huge blaze at Didcot in 1964, when a tanker carrying 288,000 gallons of petrol collided with a steam engine.

In September, 26 years after retiring, he joined Nigel, now watch manager at Didcot, to receive an award recognising the family’s contribution to the fire service.

Mr Swanton said: “It was fantastic to have that moment and to get the photographs of them together with their certificates.

“The whole family is fire service through and through.”

Speaking to the Oxford Mail just two months before he passed away, Mr Didcock said: “I still miss it.

“Whenever I heard my son go out in the middle of the night, I used to get up as well and look around to see if I could see any flames. I would go out and take photographs if it was a biggish one.

“I haven’t lost the feel for it.”

Mr Didcock is survived by his wife Peggy, children Nigel, 49, Jane, 47, and Michael, 45, and two grandchildren.