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Corps family to gather for funeral of 'Britain’s oldest Royal Marine’
27 February 2026
The Royal Marines family is urged to pay its respects to probably the oldest member of the Corps when WW2 veteran Jim Wren is laid to rest.
At 105 the former Japanese prisoner of war was possibly the country’s oldest Royal Marine and almost certainly the oldest survivor of the loss of Force Z – HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse – in the opening hours of WW2 in the Pacific.
His rich life – he was fêted by Royalty in his later years – ended peacefully in Salisbury at the beginning of the month.
Originally from Sussex, Jim Wren was rejected by both the RAF and Army when he tried to join up aged 19… but was encouraged by his uncle to try the Royal Marines… who accepted.
Upon completion of his training, he was assigned to HMS Repulse – a WW1-era battle-cruiser which was involved in the hunt for the Bismarck and later escorted a convoy to South Africa before forming the kernel of a task force with new battleship HMS Prince of Wales.
Dispatched to the Far East in a bid to deter Japanese aggression in the Pacific, instead they became among the first victims of the new conflict when they were pounced upon by enemy bombers in the South China Sea on December 10 1941.
With no air power to protect her, Repulse lasted just 80 minutes in battle with the Japanese – despite a valiant effort by Jim and his shipmates, who had been enjoying a brew when the alarm sounded.
“I dropped my tea and headed to my action station,” he told comrades in the Royal Marines Association – he was its oldest member – who interviewed him as part of 100th birthday celebrations.
“The noise was terrific, it was one big noisy battle. There was no panic though, we’d been through the routines so regularly that we just got on it. Everyone knew their role and we had such a good crew. We all had faith in each other.”
When Repulse succumbed to her wounds, Jim joined hundreds of shipmates in the oily, debris-strewn South China Sea, swallowing so much oil that he threw up.
He was eventually rescued by destroyer HMS Electra and taken to Singapore with other survivors of the disaster.
“I lost many good friends. I can still see images of them today in the mess deck. I was with them every day.”
Two months later he was captured by the Japanese as he tried to escape from Singapore and spent the remainder of the war in PoW camps, attributing his survival to the bond he forged with fellow marines in captivity.
“We didn’t know when our next meal was coming from or when our next drink was coming from,” he remembered.
“They had no idea how to deal with prisoners of war, the Japanese – no idea. The guards would cut you down if you failed to salute them or bow to them ... you expect to die if you’re fighting a war but not to perish under those circumstances.”
They endured three and a half years of barbaric conditions and daily maltreatment. News of Japan’s surrender in August 1945 – announced by the prison camp commandant – came as a surprise… and none too soon.
“I shed a few tears, I can tell you, it was an emotional reaction through my whole body,” Jim recalled. “At that stage, we had almost got to a point of no return.”
Jim Wren remained in the military post-war, finally leaving in 1953 when he settled in Salisbury, the hometown of his wife Margaret.
He worked as a gardener/groundskeeper for both the borough and Westwood St Thomas School.
A portrait of the veteran was commissioned by His Majesty the King, while the Duchess of Edinburgh joined Jim, plus family and friends, last summer during events marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan.
Jim’s funeral takes place on Wednesday, 4 March, at 1pm in St Thomas’ Church, St Thomas’ Square, Salisbury and any Royal Marine past or present is welcome to attend to celebrate a remarkable life.