When is the long-awaited funeral service for speed ace Donald Campbell

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Q.� A fitting funeral

A.� Yes. His coffin was loaded on to the Ruskin passenger launch for a 45-minute tour around the lake - shrouded in early-autumn mist. It was draped in a Union Flag and raised on the front of the vessel with a red wreath placed on top.

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Q.� Who was on board

A.� Three of Campbell's nephews and Bill Smith, the diver who led the operation to find the body. A lone piper played a lament as the boat briefly paused above the crash site.

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Q.� And on shore

A.� Campbell's daughter Gina stood by the water's edge clutching a small posy. Her father's lucky Teddy bear mascot - Mr Whoppit - poked out of her handbag. The coffin was transferred to a horse-drawn hearse and taken along the half-mile route to St Andrew's church, where a piper played Rhapsody in Blue. The funeral service was broadcast to hundreds of villagers and fans outside the church and a second service was held on the banks near where he lost control of the speedboat on 4 January, 1967. A fly-past by a fleet of RAF Tornadoes also thundered overhead in a noisy tribute to the motoring pioneer.

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Q.� There have been family disagreements ... but was this a family affair

A.� Oh yes. Campbell's widow, Tonia Bern-Campbell, who is now in her 70s and lives in Los Angeles where she works as a cabaret singer, was at the service. So will his sister, 77-year-old Jean Wales. Campbell's nephew and godson, Don Wales, who now holds the UK land speed record for an electric car, said Gina had spent months organising the details of the funeral as a celebration of his life.� Miss Campbell, now 51, said: 'I'm just brimming with pride for my father ... we wanted to bring him back from where he came.'

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Q.� How was his body found

A.� Campbell's remains were discovered in May this year, two months after the Bluebird was lifted out of the water. The 1.5-ton wreck was first sighted last December after a four-year search and the BBC filmed the recovery. Donald, son of record-breaker Sir Malcolm Campbell, had been trying to break his own water speed record of 276mph, when the nose of the boat lifted and the craft somersaulted. (Click here for an Answerbank feature about the Bluebird's discovery). The Bluebird will be displayed to the Ruskin Museum in Coniston.

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Q.� Final tributes

A.� Don Wales said before the funeral: 'Donald was a larger-than-life character and very charismatic and that is what we will be remembering. It will be a very respectful affair, but not sombre. It is a celebration of the life and achievements of a very brave man.' At the service, Campbell's friend Anthony Robinson, who was timekeeper on the day of the accident, told the congregation: 'As we finally lay to rest the skipper by the lake and close to some of his friends, I believe that he will have found that other bluebird - that bluebird of eternal happiness that inspired two generations of legends. No man deserves it more.'