A life well lived: Shot twice, war hero, veteran preacher

He was shot twice through the helmet while ‘leap-frogging from tree to tree’ in a battle with the Japanese, won a Military Cross, and subsequently became a church minister – finally dying recently at the grand age of 103.

Now tributes have been paid to brave soldier and long-standing believer Joe Mullins, who won one of the last Military Crosses of World War Two for displaying heroic bravery in the retaking of a Burmese village from Japanese enemies.

Recently published obituaries detail how he came up with a plan to defeat their enemies despite running low on men and ammunition as a Company Commander in the First Battalion, The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) in 1945.