TRIBUTES have been paid to one of the few TA soldiers who volunteered to serve in the First Gulf War in the early 1990s.

Sergeant Mike Keelor, who has died of cancer aged 67, appeared in the Daily Echo after deciding to take part in the conflict – despite being 44 at the time. His mother Betty told the paper: “The lads were saying he was past it and ought to be getting out - but he put his name down anyway.”

Sgt Keelor, of Lymington, joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps of the Territorial Army in Millbrook, Southampton, later completing a gruelling course at the Royal Marines commando training centre in Devon.

More than 50 mourners attended his funeral at S o u t h a m p t o n Crematorium.

David Hewitt, who spoke on behalf of Sgt Keelor’s family, paid tribute to Sgt Keelor’s sense of fun. “He had a dry sense of humour and often ended up crying with laughter, especially over a simple thing or inadvertently making others laugh without really trying to be funny,” he said.

Sgt Keelor leaves a son, Gary, who said he needed only one word to d e s c r i b e his father – “Great”.