A family has paid tribute to their war veteran granddad who was a ballroom dancing champion and teacher.

“Fun loving” Cyril O’Connor, who lived on Sheppey all his life, died just a few weeks before his 98th birthday.

Born in 1926, he grew up in Queenborough with his mum Hilda, Irish-born dad John, who was a physical trainer for the Army, and five sisters.

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, he was too young to serve and was evacuated to Mountain Ash in South Wales in 1940. There he stayed with a welcoming family but had trouble with some of the kids in his new hometown.

Nick O’Connor, his son, says his dad remembered those who took him in fondly but was glad to return to the Island after the Battle of Britain.

As a child, he was in the air cadets and was a keen war plane spotter – being able to identify the different types of aircraft flying over Kent. During this time as a cadet, he flew in a Lancaster bomber as a rear gunner.

After turning 18 in December 1943 he was called up to serve with an infantry unit, the Royal Hampshire Regiment, a month later, in January 1944, which was devastating news for Cyril who wanted to put his flying training into practice in the RAF.

As an infantryman, he did not see front-line combat but served Italy, Austria, Egypt and Palestine, as part of the occupying forces.

The granddad-of-two was particularly proud of guarding the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, which had been the main residence of the Habsburg dynasty.

During his time in Palestine, he was bitten by a scorpion and was treated in a hospital in Gaza.

But after returning home in 1946 he ended up back in a hospital after being paralysed, which doctors believed was the cause of this bite.

Nick said: “Doctors told him he might not walk again.

“But he was determined he would and he walked out of the hospital. All the nurses and doctors lined up and clapped him out.”

Cyril met his wife of 65 years, then Joan Nickson, through a mutual friend in 1957 and they were married two years later. Their first home was in Queenborough Road before building a house in Scocles Road, Minster.

Joan, who grew up on the Island but whose parents were from Lancashire, had been working for Barkers of Kensington department store and Nick jokes that if she had not met his dad then she might have had a “more exciting life”.

However, Cyril was far from boring.

Outside of working hours, he was a keen ballroom dancer who won Kent titles and even competed nationally with dance partner Helen Francis.

He went on to teach ballroom dancing night classes with Joan, now 87, at Sheppey Comprehensive School and Sheppey General Hospital.

Away from dancing he worked for Queenborough council for a period and in the 1970s started a job at Sheerness Dockyard as a buying manager – a role which entailed purchasing equipment for dock workers.

He retired from the docks aged 65 but still had a part-time job there and was also a volunteer at HMP Standford Hill.

Joan gave birth to their only son Nick in 1970 at Sheppey General Hospital.

Nick remembers his dad as very “funny” with one episode involving ducks summing him up.

When he and Cyril, both Tottenham Hotspur fans, were heading home on an FA Cup final day when he saw a ‘ducks for sale’ sign near a pullover of the A249.

Nick said: “He bought two ducks and brought them home with no consent from mum and not having prepared to keep or house them.

“He was almost a dad to them as when they heard his car pulling up after coming from work they would come down to the house and peck at the back door.

“He was a really well-liked man so we joked that even the ducks liked him.”

Another well-told family story was of Cyril ploughing into tables and chairs at a coffee shop while skiing with Joan in Bulgaria.

He was unfazed by the crash and simply walked to the counter and ordered two teas.

Cyril was part of the Isle of Sheppey Singers and Meyrick Minstrels who often perform at Sheppey Little Theatre in Sheerness.

In his 70s he also took up tap dancing with Helen K School of Dance and performed at the London Palladium in 2002.

All of this was partly why he stayed on Sheppey for his whole life. Nick explained: “He loved the community of the Island and he knew so many people.

“They also liked living by the sea and they regularly visited Minster Leas.”

Cyril died on Wednesday, November 6 at Medway Maritime Hospital after falling ill with Covid and pneumonia.

Nick, who lives in Surrey but saw his parents in Minster around once a month, said: “I know how lucky I was to have him as my dad.

“He would find the fun in any situation and made us laugh until the very end. He just loved having fun.

“But what is more amazing is that he was a very supportive and demonstrative dad who would tell me how much he loved me and how proud he was of me which I know is rare for someone of his generation.

“The family miss him terribly but is comforted by having so many lovely memories from such a long, healthy and happy life.”

He leaves behind two grandchildren, Arthur, 11, and Stanley, 9, to whom he was ‘grandpappy’ – a moniker Cyril came up with based on old Wild West cartoons.

Nick said: “Both Arthur and Stanley were big fans of grandpappy. Stanley is like a mini-Cyril. He’s a performer, a clown and cheeky. So he lives on through Stanley.”

Cyril’s funeral is tomorrow (Thursday, December 12) at the Garden of England Crematorium in Bobbing at midday.

Any donations will go to Sheppey Little Theatre, which is raising funds to buy solar panels. To view the fundraiser click here.

The family have asked for no flowers, and no black attire.