LOST comrades were on the mind of a former bus driver when he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph.

Fred Chapman, 81, is one of the only two London Transport Old Comrades left from the Second World War.

The highly-decorated former soldier was honoured to lay the wreath in memory of his friends on Remembrance Sunday.

Mr Chapman, of Walsingham Road, St Mary Cray, had an active army career with the 8th Army Royal Artillery 51st Highland Division.

As a desert rat he fought in the African desert and he took part in the invasion of Sicily, the Normandy D-Day landings, and fought in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany.

When the war ended he thought he would be sent back to the UK and was very surprised to be sent to Egypt.

He ended his service in Heliopolis near Cairo, Egypt, in 1946.

Honours he received include the Africa, Italy, France and Germany Stars and the War and the Defence Medals.

The London Transport Old Comrades association is the only civilian group allowed to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.

King George V granted the honour to the London General Omnibus Company in 1920 in recognition of the services rendered by the men who drove buses to the front line in France 1915.

Mr Chapman said: "It was the climax of my service with the association and the army.

"The memory of my friend and comrade Albert Dodds and others who died were in my mind.

"I'll never forget how he died when he was hit by a shell in a trench."

He added: "It was a very hard life but we had mates and comrades and all helped one another.

"We didn't look further than the next hour and we lived hour by hour."

Following his war years, Mr Chapman joined London Transport's Bromley garage in 1959.

He drove the 227 bus from Chislehurst to Crystal Palace for 28 years and bought his own Regal Mark IV red bus when he retired in 1987.

Now he uses it to raise money for charities at carnivals and shows.