Town mourns death of Spike Milligan

He was a gunner with D Battery, 56 Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery through the last war, an experience which stuck with him throughout his life.

Milligna (the well-known typing error as he often called himself) referred to the town in "Adolf Hitler, My Part in His Downfall", the first volume of his hilarious war trilogy, and later "Rommel? Gunner Who?".

He also regularly met up with former colleagues at reunions in the town.

In 1991, he said: "We kept the Hun from the shores of Bexhill! We were Bexhill's finest."

He even studied old Observer files in the public library for some of his books and appealed for war-time photographs.

Spike changed the face of post-war British humour with the Goons on radio and then with a series of zany television shows during the 1950s and repeated through the 1960s.

He counted Prince Charles among his many fans and was made a CBE in 1992. Last year he received an honourary knighthood.

And Bexhill was host to one of his proudest moments, when he was surprised at the De La Warr Pavilion by the then host of This Is Your Life Eamonn Andrews along with stars Peter Sellers, Eric Sykes and Michael Bentine.

In the late 1980's he moved to Udimore where he lived with his wife Shelagh. He leaves his wife and six children.