THE funeral of an Italian war hero who saved the lives of 11 of his fellow soldiers was being held at Swindon's Holy Rood Roman Catholic Church today.

Father-of-three Eugenio Giorno, 81, who lived in Grosvenor Road with his wife Concetta, died at Princess Margaret Hospital a week ago after a stroke.

But he came close to death repeatedly while under fire as British and American troops swept through Italy during World War Two.

It was another 40 years before his bravery was recognised by Italian authorities and in 1985 he was presented with one of his country's top military honours, the Medaglio Diploma al Merito di Guerra (medal of merit in war) at a ceremony in London.

His daughter, Josie McNally, said: "He rarely talked about the war, even to us, and few people knew what he had done. But when they were compiling records they found his name referred to repeatedly in other people's accounts of being rescued."

As an Italian Army scout, he saved men by diverting the attention of Allied soldiers who were about to put grenades down a foxhole where they were hiding.

On another occasion he became a sitting target to draw fire away from fellow soldiers by crossing a stream .

"Dad was really modest and didn't talk about this even to us, but he was proud to get the medal," said Mrs McNally.

A representative of the Italian consulate was expected to attend today's funeral service which was due to be followed by burial at Whitworth Road ceremony with Il Silenzia, the Last Post, sounded by an Italian military bugler.

Mr Giorno was eventually captured, sent to Britain as a prisoner of war and put to work on farms in the Devizes area until being repatriated.

"He came back a couple of years later with my mother Concetta as his new bride because he liked it here," said Mrs McNally.

They lived in the Devizes area before moving to Swindon 43 years ago. He worked for Vickers Armstrong who had a factory at South Marston and the Plessey group. Later he was employed as a porter at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Mr Giorno, who was a familiar sight on his bike around Swindon, also grew herbs which he supplied to the town's Italian restaurants. He was a popular member of Swindon's Italian community.

"His Italian accent never left him," said Mrs McNally. "Everyone loved him and he'll be missed very much."

Two years ago he began arranging his own funeral and regularly called in to chat to staff at the Co-operative Funeral Service's office.

"He used to bring us Mars bars and just pop in for a cup of tea," said one of them. "He was a lovely man."

Besides his widow and his daughter Mr Giorno leaves two sons, Tony and Carlo, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.