Harold Jellicoe Percival, a Royal Air Force veteran who served during World War II, died in a nursing home on Oct. 25. The 99-year-old had no surviving family members or friends to attend his funeral, so the facility posted a notice in a local newspaper, asking service personnel to attend.
Other local media picked up the story, and the photo of the initial callout was widely shared on social media. It seems the Internet listened.
On Veterans Day, known as Armistice Day in the United Kingdom, hundreds of strangers turned up at the Lytham Park Crematorium in England to show their support for the deceased veteran.
Mourners gather for the funeral service of World War II veteran Harold Percival in Lytham, northwest England, on Nov. 11. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
It all started with a post on Twitter that was quickly shared across the Internet.
Others took to Facebook to urge service personnel in the region to attend the service.
The message was heard, and hundreds of veterans and civilians attended the RAF airman's funeral on Nov. 11.
Service personnel await the arrival of a coffin bearing the body of World War II veteran Harold Percival for a funeral service in Lytham, northwest England, on Nov. 11.
(Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Flag bearers and military personnel escort the hearse carrying a coffin bearing the body of World War II veteran Harold Percival for a funeral service in Lytham, northwest England, on Nov. 11.
(Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
The coffin of World War II veteran Harold Percival is carried into Lytham Park Crematorium on Nov. 11, in Lytham St Annes, England. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)
During the service, Rev. Alan Clark told mourners they had "come in numbers surpassing anything that was expected. Not because you knew him, but because each of us has a common humanity," the Associated Press reports.
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