A SECOND World War veteran who met Mahatma Gandhi has died, aged 86.

Desmond Symes was born and raised in Hazelbury Bryan near Sherborne in June 1923 and served with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War.

His first overseas posting was in Bombay, where he maintained Tiger Moths, Spitfires and Hurricanes.

At the war’s end, he found himself posted to a VIP Squadron, maintaining a fleet of DC3 Dakotas used as transports for Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Viceroy of India and Burma.

On one occasion Mr Symes met Gandhi, who was meeting Mountbatten, to discuss the partition of India.

Describing his father’s encounter with the revered leader, Godfrey Symes said: “Ghandi used his stick to knock my father’s camera out of his hands, thus thwarting him from taking a photo.”

Mr Symes spent a lot of time with Mountbatten around the sub-continent.

He was also given a guided tour of the Taj Mahal by the building’s curator while in Agra.

After returning from the war, Mr Symes returned to live with his parents in Hazelbury Bryan, continuing to work as a carpenter and teaching village boys the trade.

He married his wartime sweetheart Phyllis in June 1951 in Hazelbury Bryan and the couple honeymooned in Weymouth.

Desmond was heavily involved in village life, singing in the village church choir, serving on the church council, the parish council and the village hall committee.

He was also a founder member of the Hazelbury Bryan Branch of the Royal British Legion and the Royal Air Force Association.

A Tiger Moth biplane and Hercules bomber performed a fly-by as a mark of honour at Mr Symes’s funeral.

Representatives of the Royal British Legion and Royal Air Force also joined a Ghurka guard of honour to march in memory of their old comrade.

Godfrey Symes, paid tribute to his father, saying: “He was a very quietly spoken and kind person.

“He was always the person behind the scenes sorting everything out and getting everything ready. He was always very reliable.”