HE was the man who gave our Queen her marching orders!

And it was one of the proudest moments of Joe Hewitt's life when she recognised him at a Buckingham Palace garden party three decades later.

Joe, a heroic career soldier who fought and was wounded on the beaches of Dunkirk, returned to England and was stationed with his Grenadier Guards regiment at Windsor. While there, he was asked to give drill lessons to the then Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret.

And it was during the 1970s, when he and former comrades were invited to a palace garden party, that Joe, born and bred in Prescot, met up with his 'Royal recruit' once more. The Queen warmly shook his hand and said that she remembered him as her drill sergeant all those years ago.

"He was so pleased that he still spoke about it years later," says his brother-in-law, John Rose, in paying tribute to the extraordinary life of Joe who died recently.

The papers were crammed with reports about the death of Reggie Kray when Joe, a diabetes sufferer, passed away. Kray, observes John, was "basically just a criminal." And yet, people like that commanded splash headline treatment while little recognition seemed to be given to those who, like Joe, achieved much that was useful and praiseworthy in life. "I thought that a report of Joe's life might re-dress the balance a bit," he explains.

Joe had an additional blue-blooded connection. Says his brother-in-law: "He used to valet for the late Lord Derby who was also a Grenadier Guard. Because of this connection, Joe always received a brace of pheasants as a gift every Christmas."

Joe's army life had begun in 1938, and two years later saw him at Dunkirk where he sustained a shrapnel wound to his leg. He was invalided back to England, recuperating at Southport Hospital, which was handy for family visiting. As soon as he was able, he rejoined the Grenadier Guards.

In 1946 he ended his army career, returning to Prescot where, in the mid-1950s, he married John's sister, Eileen, who died in May this year. Joe, who had later moved to Knowsley Village, had worked at the BICC as a superintendent within their component division and was a prominent Freemason, helping to fund-raise for many local charities.

Says John: "He was a very well-known character and achieved a lot in his lifetime which I thought people might like to hear about."

HE certainly seems to have been a remarkable man.