Northampton man looks back on well-travelled life and fond memories as he approaches 103rd birthday

Jack Waterfield lived in Kingsthorpe all his life and now resides in Timken Grange Care Home, where he will celebrate his upcoming birthday on Friday (May 17).

He is a very well-travelled man as his role in the Air Force during the Second World War took him all over the world and he went on to marry his wife Irene in 1951. They share one daughter together, Marilyn.

Jack has three celebrations lined up this week. He will be going for lunch at Poppyfield Farm with a friend on Wednesday, Helen from Timken Grange is taking him out on Thursday, and Marilyn is visiting on Friday.

The soon-to-be 103-year-old told the Chronicle & Echo last year, during his 102nd birthday celebrations, that he enjoyed walking, reading and looking through scrapbooks of pictures – particularly of his travels with Irene who sadly passed away.

Now, he enjoys reading the daily papers and this newspaper every Thursday. Jack also makes the most of getting out and about, especially when the sun is shining, and seeing his two grandsons when they visit.

After getting married in Kingsthorpe Church, Jack and Irene took over his father’s shoe shop on Kingsthorpe front until 1978 – located in terrace number seven.

Looking back to when he ran the family business, Jack recalled Kingsthorpe front was full of butchers, bakers and green grocers.

Though there were 15 butcher shops in Kingsthorpe, which sold pork chops for as little as sixpence, they all made a living.

During his youth, Jack would have described Northampton as a “peaceful market town” and he often thinks back to the thriving Market Square. The variety of stalls did not shut until 9pm and it made for a good night out browsing what was on offer.

Throughout the Second World War, Jack travelled to Algeria, Gibraltar and Malta, just to name a few, and he went on to write a book about his time in the forces.

He first went to Scotland and joined a squad there in the winter of 1941 until the following April. Jack remembers the snowy climates.

Though the majority of the young men followed instructions from Winston Churchill and did not know what to expect, Jack looked back on one time 50 spitfires were taken over to Malta on planes that had oil leaks and radios that did not work.

“It’s a wonder some of them landed safe,” he said. “Some of the pilots had never been trained to fly aircraft carriers either.”

This was the first of multiple times Jack returned to Malta and the travelling sounded constant from the stories he told.

He was later one of eight chosen to go to Gibraltar and four of them joined the ‘eagle detachment’.

Jack recalled the many occasions they slept anywhere on the transport they were sent on and one occasion where they were all taught French – which he says he has “long since forgotten”.

He made tea and ate army biscuits during his wartime travels, and he and Irene even revisited some of the places he had been during their adventures later in life.