TRIBUTES have been paid to a former Wimborne policeman and ex-special forces solider who died peacefully surrounded by his family.

Pat O’Hara, who in the Second World War fought deep behind enemy lines in the sweltering Burmese jungles, died earlier this month.

Pat, who was 90, is survived by children Michael, Robin and Nicholas, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

His wife Brenda, with whom he ran a successful rest home after leaving the police in 1961, died in July 2006.

After the couple lost their daughter, killed in a car crash aged just 17, the family abandoned the nursing home business and started work in funeral homes.

Today, son Nicholas O’Hara runs the Nicholas O’Hara Funeral Homes, with premises in Wimborne, Verwood and West Moors.

Eldest son Michael said: “He entered Burma with the 2nd Chindit expedition in 1944, the largest special force ever assembled.

“One can only imagine the conditions with monsoon weather, having to sleep in wet clothes waiting for supplies dropped from the skies with a ruthless enemy in the waiting.

“Dad caught malaria on 11 occasions but despite everything else, he returned to England safely.”

During his time as a police constable he arrested a German sailor in Poole for murder, and a blackmailer. “Not bad for a bobby on the beat,” says Michael.

He added: “He truly was the old- fashioned bobby who clipped your ear if he caught you up to no good.

“He would also take time out to talk with young people and try to put them on the straight and narrow.

“Some years ago he received a letter from a local lad in Colehill thanking him for being there and for helping him to a better life.

“This lad joined the Army, rising through the ranks and travelled the world in the Forces, later doing great voluntary work in all parts of the world.”