A SOUTH Lakeland pensioner has expressed his disappointment at the lack of financial help available to repair a gravestone belonging to a World War II pilot.

New Zealander Noel Leonard Pittendrigh was 21 when he died as his plane crashed in south Cumbria in April 1943.

With no family to be found, locals came together to remember the Royal New Zealand Air Force man and he was buried at Flookburgh Cemetery.

Frank Lomas, 82, of Flookburgh, who himself served more than five years in the army, was disappointed when he contacted the Royal British Legion when the headstone collapsed and was told they would not be able to contribute to the £84 repair costs.

“They said they won’t do anything because it’s not a war grave,” said Mr Lomas. “How can it not be a war grave when it’s got his name, the fact he’s a New Zealand pilot, his date of death and the fact he served in the war?

“The whole village turned out for his funeral. I was seven years old at the time and I can remember going with my family.”

A spokesperson for the Royal British Legion said this kind of occurrence would be referred to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) who oversee repairs to war graves in the UK.

A CWGC spokesperson said: “It is not uncommon in the UK where families could choose their own grave marker and choose where their loved one was buried.

“We accept the private memorial as the official point of commemoration for the war casualty but we do not own it, nor are we directly responsible for its maintenance.

“In this instance, if the private memorial is broken and beyond repair and therefore ceasing to commemorate the war casualty properly we would look to identify the grave owner to see if we can offer them one of our grave markers. We have to go through that process to ensure we are abiding by the legal ownership of the grave and the memorial.”