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<\/p>\nTHE GRIEVING family of a World War Two hero have been told he cannot have a flag on his coffin at his funeral – due to coronavirus restrictions.<\/p>\n
Major Frank Clark served with the Grenadier Guards and took part in D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Battle of Arnhem which was immortalised in the film; A Bridge Too Far.<\/p>\n
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The veteran, who fought in some of the bloodiest battles of WW2, passed away on March 11, at the age of 96.<\/p>\n
But when his family came to arrange his funeral service at Southend Crematorium, Essex, they claim the crematorium said it could not grant Major Clark's dying wish – to have a Union Flag on his coffin.<\/p>\n
The gesture is a standard one for military servicemen who have passed away – but the crematorium said they could not allow it to happen due to Covid-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n
Major Clark's family say they were told that people are not allowed to touch the coffin – meaning it would not be possible to lay a flag on top of the coffin.<\/p>\n
And they say that the crematorium told them that other servicemen have also had to forego having a flag on their coffins during the pandemic as a result of these restrictions.<\/p>\n
But Southend Council has said that no such restrictions have been put in place – and that Major Clark's family were given wrong information by the crematorium.<\/p>\n
Southend councillor Stephen Aylen, a friend of Major Clark's family, said: "I was so disappointed by their negative attitude.<\/p>\n
"Everything was just, 'We can't do this, we can't do that'. We asked whether thesome ofy could just put gloves on to lay the flag, but they said they wouldn't.<\/p>\n
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"The family have been left very distressed by all this. All Mr Clark wanted was a simple funeral service, and it was his wish to have his flag and his medals on his coffin.<\/p>\n
"The man was a war hero. He served for 37 years – he was at D-Day, Arnhem, the Battle of the Bulge. It is his civil right to have a flag.<\/p>\n
"The crematorium told us that several servicemen had been denied flags on their coffins for the same reason.<\/p>\n
"It's totally unacceptable – imagine if Captain Tom's family had been told he could not have a flag?"<\/p>\n
Thankfully, Cllr. Aylen then approached nearby Pitsea Crematorium to see if they could accommodate Major Clark's dying wish – and were told it was "no problem".<\/p>\n
He said: "They couldn't have been more helpful. The complete difference in attitudes was amazing – we owe a big thanks to Pitsea Crematorium."<\/p>\n
Major Clark will now have his funeral at Pitsea Crematorium on April 19.<\/p>\n
W Thorp & Son Funeral Directors in Leigh are dealing with the funeral.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said: "When we were advised by staff at Southend Crematorium that they will not currently accept coffins draped with flags, we discussed this with our client.<\/p>\n
"We then made arrangements for the funeral to take place at Basildon & District Crematorium who were happy to accommodate the family's wishes."<\/p>\n
And a Southend Council spokesman said: "We are fully supportive of the use of flags at funeral services and there are no restrictions on flags in place.<\/p>\n
"We are contacting funeral directors who are authorised to use our services to ensure they are aware of our stance on items on coffins.<\/p>\n
"We have also reminded relevant teams within the council.<\/p>\n
"We are sorry that they received contradictory advice to this.<\/p>\n
"We would encourage anyone with queries about a funeral to contact the Bereavement Services Team bereavementservices@southend.gov.uk."<\/p>\n