Owen Filer, thought to be Wales' oldest man, celebrated his 107th birthday on Friday (16 October) with relatives, friends and fellow ex-servicemen, crediting a diet of fish and chips for his longevity.
Mr Filer, a Cwmbran resident born in 1919, served with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers before joining the Military Police during the Second World War. He told journalists: "How I got here I'll never know, but I've met a lot of people who have admired me and asked me how do I do it."
"No secret recipe, except that I always worked all my life," he added. "There is no secret, you just live properly, and I've always done it. I've never overeaten... I lived on fish and chips."
Fish and chips and a full meal
Mr Filer elaborated on his diet: "Fish and chips, a full meal, a scoop full of chips and a fish, and it was cod and hake, it was genuine. You can't afford to buy it now, can you? It's such a change, isn't it, it's crazy."
On Friday, SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, presented Mr Filer with a commemorative statuette honouring his military service. His daughter Anne Messore, 80, one of four children, accompanied him to the ceremony at Tredegar Veterans Support Hub, reports Wales Online.
He is also grandfather to 10 and great-grandfather to 15.
Red carpet reception at cinema
Later that day, Mr Filer was treated to a red carpet reception at the Market Hall Cinema in Brynmawr, where he had selected a screening of One Good Turn - a 1955 British comedy film starring Norman Wisdom, Joan Rice and Shirley Abicair.
When asked about reaching the milestone age of 107, he reflected: "I thought it would be a better world I would be living in, but I didn't think I'd ever make it."
"Nobody ever thought about old age in our family," Mr Filer added. "We had no food, we had no money, and that's God's truth, we had no money."
Fellow veteran's tribute
Fellow veteran Darren Foote, who played a key role in organising the birthday festivities, remarked: "He doesn't understand why they make a fuss of him, he doesn't get it at all. He's just a really nice, down to earth guy.
"He still gets up in the morning, he puts a clean shirt on, puts his tie on, cleans his shoes, and he gets up with purpose. I think we can all take a leaf out of his book on that one, for sure."
