Squadron Leader Wally Lashbrook.
I turned 100 years old on January 3 and celebrated with friends, family and players from the bridge club. I played bridge three times a week until my eyesight started to go a year or so ago. I also played a lot of sport when I was young – I boxed for the RAF, ran the 400 metres and did pole vaulting. During the war, I was a pilot and it was glamorous, dangerous, risky and exciting – all of those things.
I've been retired for more than 40 years now and filled my retirement with gardening, travel and bridge. I lived with my daughter Jessica after my wife Betty died. I was a grandpa-nanny.
I've kept mentally and physically busy and it's only recently that I've had problems with my eyesight and hearing. I still like a tipple: a sherry every day and a lager every now and again. My favourite is champagne – my daughters think that's why it took me six weeks to get out of France when I was shot down during the war.
I was born in Chilsworthy in Devon and caught moles for a living so I could earn enough to pay for grammar school. At 19, I joined the RAF as a technician then went to Plymouth where I worked with Lawrence of Arabia, who was also stationed there. We shared a passion for motorcycles and I've always loved speed, although I gave up driving when I was 84.
When war broke out, I was sent to train as a pilot at Prestwick where I met my wife Betty. We had two daughters, Jessica and Diane. I trained in Tiger Moths and then joined Bomber Command. I was scared stiff. You never thought of turning back, though. Bomber Command were vital to victory.
In 1943, I was shot down over Belgium and made my way through France and Spain. The French Resistance were important to my survival. The only French I knew was "je ne sais pas" but on a train some German officers came into my carriage. The soldier next to me said "Quelle heure est-il?" My limited French wouldn't allow me to give an answer so I extended my arm, he read the time and went back to admiring the countryside. It was one of several close shaves I had.
I still keep in touch with some of the people who helped me in France. In fact, I got a case of champagne from one of the families for my 100th birthday.
It took me until June to get home when I discovered Betty had been paid as a widow. They took all the money back. The only thing they didn't charge me for was the plane.
After the war, I became a test pilot and flew the first Meteor jets and then became a civil airline pilot. Some of it was more dangerous than the war. Once I was flying from Bermuda and all the instruments failed. We got the plane back and discovered someone had pushed grass into the engine. Was it sabotage? We don't know.
Back in Prestwick, I worked with the Army Cadet Force until I retired. The last time I flew was 1953. I loved flying, I must say, but I loved being on the ground better.
I live in a care home in Prestwick now. It's hard not being able to read the paper or play cards but I realised if I didn't adapt, I would be bored, and that's what I've done all my life: adapted.
mark smith
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article