Actor and star of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Windsor Davies, has died.

Davies, 88, who was best known as the sergeant major in the TV series, died on Thursday, his family said.

Born in Canning Town, London, he returned to his father’s home village, Nant-y-Moel in Bridgend county, when World War Two broke out.

His daughter Jane Davies said he and her mother, who died in September, left a family “who will all remember them with love, laughter and gratitude”.

The couple, who has been married for 62 years, had retired to France. They had five children.

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Davies and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum co-star Don Estelle also enjoyed a number one hit in 1975 when they recorded a version of Whispering Grass in character, a novelty hit which sold more than one million copies.

He also played Oliver Smallbridge, alongside Donald Sinden, as two rival antique dealers in the long-running ITV sitcom Never The Twain.

Although overshadowed by It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, it ran for more than 60 episodes.

In 1978, Davies also starred in one-off BBC drama Grand Slam, which gained cult status and was still fondly remembered years later – gaining a new lease of life with a DVD release.

But he will be remembered most fondly for playing Battery Sergeant Major “Shut Up” Williams in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, which ran for 56 episodes between 1974 and 1981.