The family of a 90-year-old Second World War veteran who escaped from German troops twice have paid tribute to their “gentle” and “sincere” father, grandfather and great grandfather.

Leonard Charles Chandler, known by family and friends as Len, was captured at Dunkirk on 31st May 1940 and after being marched towards Ronse in Belgium on the evening of June 20, he escaped and eventually made his way to Lille, where he stayed for a few months.

Travelling by rail to Bourges, stopping two days in Paris was then guided over the demarcation line by the French arriving in Marseilles on December 26, 1940.

After many attempts to stow away on ships bound for Africa or Spain he was then arrested and sent to prison in Nimes and on to St Hippolyte Du Fort, where he again escaped, on April 15, 1941.

Travelling by foot and train via Barcelona and Madrid, he reached Gibraltar where he was finally repatriated on May 23, 1941.

His son, Alan Chandler, said: “He escaped twice from the Germans and that was quite special. He was very proud of having fought the war and even wrote a small book about it we’re trying to get published.

“He will be remembered as a gentle, sincere, caring, generous and very loving man and will be very sadly missed.”

For his “long walk home” and his bravery, he was decorated with the Military Medal and within months he was sent to Burma to serve the remainder of the war.

Mr Chandler was husband to Joan, who he called Jo, brother to Bill, John and the late Mary and Joan, grandad to Gavin, Damon and Georgina and great grandad to Ella, Sophie, Carys, Lewis and Kimi.

Born in West Kensington, Mr Chandler moved to Brixton when he was seven and joined the local TA when he was 18. He was called up to serve at the war at the age of 19, when he was sent to France.

He met Mrs Chandler after the was and they were married. After numerous jobs he worked directly for Lord Nathan at Oppenheimer Nathan and Vandyke Solicitors in the city of London, spending 25 years there until his retirement in 1983.

The couple moved to Epsom in the early 1990s.

Mr Chandler was a founder member of the Burma Star Epsom branch serving as secretary from its inauguration in 1994 until 2009 when he had to step down due to ill health.

His funeral took place at St Martins Church, in Epsom, yesterday morning (Wednesday, September 29).