THE death of an SAS “legend”, who was decorated for an act of remarkable courage during guerrilla warfare in the Far East 65 years ago, is to receive full military honours at his funeral next month.

Sergeant Major Eddie ‘Geordie’ Lillico, one of the longest serving soldiers in the elite regiment, received the British Empire Medal and Military Medal in recognition of an incident in 1951, during the guerrilla war between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army, military arm of the Malayan Communist Party.

The 83-year-old, who served for 33 years, was a hero among comrades, and to the family back in his beloved ‘Geordieland’, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

The story of how he lay bleeding from serious gunshot wounds for 24 hours in the Malayan jungle, rather than summon help and endanger fellow soldiers, has been well catalogued.

“He was an absolute legend,” said a former SAS soldier this week. “That incident in Malaya was remarkable.”

In his beloved Geordieland, Sergeant Major Lillico was similarly feted. A Territorial Army centre was named after him in tribute to his courage.

He was also congratulated by SAS founder, the late Sir David Stirling after leading a successful survival exercise in Kielder Forest, and he invited to visit him at his London office.

“You can pick up any book about the SAS and you will find Uncle Eddie’s name in it,” said his niece, Ruth Hunter.

In fact, the veteran soldier amassed a wealth of books on military history.

“He never worked in civilian life, he was totally military."

Though seriously wounded after an encounter with enemy fighters in the Malayan jungle, he showed exceptional courage.

“He was shot in the leg and on his own, he knew the enemy was close by,” said Mrs Hunter. “A helicopter was circling above, but he wouldn’t deploy his personal beacon because he knew other men would be endangered.

“I’m so proud that Uncle Eddie lay there, even though he was losing blood, until he knew it was safe to send up the beacon.”

He was “proud to be a Geordie”, she said. “He was very close to my mother, his sister, and she would send him stotty cakes, a local delicacy.” He remained a staunch supporter of Newcastle United.

“He was a very private person, he would never discuss what he was doing,” said Mrs Hunter. “It was a long-standing family joke that when he came home he couldn’t tell us anything as it was classified.”

*Sergeant Major Eddie Lillico’s funeral will be at St Martin’s Church, Hereford, on Thursday, September 8 at 12 noon.