Secret service

When British World War II veteran Ronald Brown (pictured above left) died at the age of 94, his relatives had his body cremated. Intending to scatter the ashes, they asked about the bullet that was still lodged in his leg from his service with the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1944. He had downplayed the lifelong pain that came with the injury, asking only that his 5 grandchildren avoid the knee when sitting in his lap. When funeral directors turned over his cremated remains, the family realized why he set off airport scanners when he traveled overseas to Australia and America. Still embedded in his body after 60 years were 6oz - 2 handfuls - of shrapnel (above right). Brown had stepped on a land mine in France and crawled 2 miles to safety. His daughter says, "It just shows how brave he was....We all so proud of him."

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WWII:

Man and munitions in the melt

Secrets in the sand

In the trenches

71 years ago

History in the back garden

Time warp

War holdouts

James Ross Quigley