Cherry Dawson had no idea just how highly her husband was regarded until he died at the age of 83.

One man travelled from Essex to be at the funeral of Group Captain Monty Dawson in All Saints' Church, Compton. Colin Bentley had been with him in the celebrated Pathfinder force, but they had lost touch after the war.

After an obituary appeared in the Daily Telegraph, a man from Sussex rang Mrs Dawson to say that her husband had been his boss when he did his National Service in 1950.

"They were training for a flight over the north magnetic pole and this man was impressed by Monty's consideration for other ranks," Mrs Dawson said at her home in Southdown, Shawford.

"And I had no idea how much my husband was loved in this village until so many letters and cards came in," she added.

Of course, she herself knows all about the quality of the man to whom she had been married for over 50 years. A memoir by his daughter, Stella, a journalist, said he had been a Royal Air Force navigator with the Pathfinders, the elite corps that led bombing raids in World War II.

The accuracy of their flares turned hitherto haphazard drops into precision attacks that greatly increased the effectiveness of Bomber Command.

"He was fiercely patriotic, an officer of principle and boundless optimism. His relentless attention to detail gave him a steely concentration on missions.

"Shuttered behind the pilot, he calculated aircraft and bombing target positions at first with instruments little better than those used for centuries at sea - the stars and the sextant."

It was a daring daylight attack on Scharnhorst, one of German's fast modern battle cruisers threatening British convoys, which earned him a Distinguished Flying Medal.

In the attack, Scharnhorst was hit by five bombs, shipping 3,000 tons of water and listing heavily. Monty's Halifax bomber was attacked by 21 German fighters in five minutes.

The gunners managed to shoot down two of the attackers before the aircraft was badly hit, limping back to base on two of its four engines.

By the end of the war, Monty, commissioned right after the Scharnhorst episode, had flown a total of 74 missions and had been decorated with DFC and Bar.

His widow recalled that he always said he was at his best in adversity and he was confident that, despite the large loss of life in the air war, he would survive. "When he flew, he had a presence beside him and knew he would not be killed," she said.

After the war, he joined Coates, the textile firm, but tired of civilian life within weeks and returned to the RAF with a permanent commission in the rank of flight lieutenant.

He met his wife at a dance. She had trained at Guy's Hospital, London, and was a nurse with Princess Mary's RAF Nursing Service.

After a number of appointments, Monty served finally with Nato in Brussels, engaging in the mutual balanced force reduction negotiations. In 1974, he joined British Aerospace at Warton in Lancashire.

Although he retired and moved to Shawford to live in 1985, British Aerospace pleaded with him to go back, which he and his wife did for two and a half years.

His administrative skills and ability to host Saudi Arabian guests enhanced the negotiations that led to a large military training and support contract.

Monty Dawson's drive, enthusiasm and persuasive skills had further to run. From 1987, he was an energetic fund-raiser for the Theatre Royal, Winchester and for the city's military museums.

He and Robin Tice negotiated with Southampton Airport to modify aircraft approach routes for the village's benefit. He also edited and produced the Compton and Shawford parish magazine; he was a keen gardener and secretary of the horticultural society.

The Dawsons had four children - Michael, a marine biologist who now lives in the USA; Stella, a Reuters chief finance correspondent at the European Central Bank; Kate, head of social work in East Sussex, and Roger, formerly in the Royal Green Jackets, who is studying to be a Jesuit priest.

At local and national level, Monty Dawson used his great ability to get things done - he arranged many concerts to raise money for All Saints' Church.

"He could get people to do whatever was needed," his widow said. "This was a gift that shone through everything he did. He was the one who took things back to the shop if we weren't pleased! He was so English and so proud of his country - it was the essence of his being."