He possessed a voice people recognised instantly. The tone and dignity meant he was there to describe great state occasions such as the funerals of Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten.

For those who knew the late Raymond Baxter only as a commentator and presenter of the hugely popular television series, Tomorrow's World there was another character behind the voice and one who had many links with the south.

Recently his biography, Tales of My Time, was published in paperback just a few months after his death last year.

Passions One of Raymond's great passions was the aircraft he flew as a Second World War RAF pilot, the Spitfire, created and developed in Southampton by the design genius, RJ Mitchell.

"I met my first Spitfire,'' said Raymond. "It was not love at first sight. I'd already been in love with it for ages. My earliest passions and interests, engineering, power, speed and flight, were here encapsulated in a single beautiful machine and given to me, not just to play with, but to put to the purpose for which it had been created. But now we had come to the moment of truth.

"Any Spitfire pilot will never, I am sure, forget his first experience of RJ Mitchell's masterpiece.

"It was not only the airframe which constituted the challenge, it was also the engine, the aptly named and legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin.'' Decades later during Raymond's BBC commentary on the VJ Day celebrations in August, 1995, at the conclusion of the official fly-past over the Tower of London and the Royal Yacht Britannia with the Queen on board, he was reunited once again with his beloved Spitfire.

"I tried to match words to the appearance of the lone Spitfire,'' said Raymond. "Suddenly there was this beautiful and so familiar shape, silhouetted above the skyline of London towards sunset on a perfect summer evening. I said: And now the one aircraft which has become the most symbolic of them all'.

"It was chosen to represent every type of aircraft of the British and Commonwealth air forces during the Second World War, the aircrews that flew them, and those 70,253 from the RAF alone, including many of my friends and squadron comrades, who lost their lives in pursuit of victory.'' At the end of the war Raymond and his wife, Sylvia, travelled from the Middle East to Southampton on the Royal Mail Ship, Andes.

"Built as a luxury liner, she had been a troopship throughout the war,'' said Raymond. "She won a special place in the affection of Sylvia and me. It was a five-day voyage and although we were unable to share a cabin, nights were warm on deck, the days relaxed and we each shared a same-sex cabin with three others.

Mother England' "The Solent never looked lovelier, although I have seen it often enough, and when Andes turned to steam slowly up Southampton Water, with the low shore closing in on either side, it was if Mother England was extending her arms to welcome us home.'' In the book, written in collaboration with Tony Dron, the broadcaster recalls his role in covering the funeral of Romsey's Lord Mountbatten and the effect that state occasion had on him.

"The ceremonial funeral of Lord Mountbatten, on September 5, 1979, hit me unexpectedly,'' said Raymond. "My position was overlooking Whitehall, just past the Cenotaph. I had done my homework, and watched the pre-dawn rehearsal. But when I saw his horse, led with stirrups reversed, carrying his empty riding boots, I momentarily choked up.'' Raymond Baxter died on September 15 last year, Battle of Britain Day. Tony Dron said: "One of the Spitfire pilots at Goodwood volunteered to perform a flypast at the funeral.

"On the day, the sight and sound of a Spitfire flashing over the church at the end of the service was a very moving moment indeed.'' Tales of My Time by Raymond Baxter in collaboration with Tony Dron is published by Grub Street and priced £10.95.