Decorated Margaret River Veteran Turns 100

Ask anyone who knows Baptistcare Mirrambeena Residential Care’s Brian Walley and they’ll tell you there was never any doubt this humble war hero, devoted husband and father and proud community member would join the ranks of WA’s centenarians.

The father of five, grandfather of 14 and great grandfather of 26 survived one of the bloodiest battles in military history to go on and live a rich and fascinating life.

Turning 100 on in July was another incredible milestone for Brian and an opportunity to reminisce during birthday celebrations with family and friends.

Born in Cheshire, North England in 1922 Brian grew up on a dairy farm.

It was here at the age of nine that he watched an air force pilot land a plane on one of the family’s fields and vowed to join the UK RAF.

Brian met the love of his life Mair when she was 15 and he was 17, but their romance was put on hold when he signed up for the RAF one day shy of his 18^th birthday.

Mair’s letters from home were a lifeline for Brian during his involvement in one of the bloodiest battles in military history and subsequent internment in a German POW camp.

But it was chance reunion five years later at a petrol station in North Wales when he returned from active duty that would see the couple become inseparable.

They married in 1946 when Mair was 21 and Brian was 23.

When Mair was diagnosed with dementia and needed to move into residential aged care in 2012, Brian didn’t hesitate to join her at Mirrambeena.

They were married and devoted to one another for 76 years before Mair sadly passed away a few weeks ago.

Since retiring at the age of 68, Brian has documented and published his true-life war adventures and has five published books to his credit.

His accounts of a doomed RAF flight on 7 November 1941 are particularly harrowing.

Brian was the second pilot flying an old Whitely V Plane from Yorkshire “full of bombs and petrol bound for Berlin, under enemy fire.”

The plane came down and the crew were in a battered flimsy dinghy in the North Sea, off the west coast of Germany after surviving the ‘inevitable ditching.’

Forty-eight horrendous hours in the turbulent North Sea followed.

Two crew members were tragically washed away when the dinghy capsized and two more died of exposure leaving Brian the sole survivor.

He was eventually rescued by a German seaplane and can vividly remember his rescue, surgical procedures and subsequent recovery and imprisonment by the German enemy.

Lifestyle Coordinator at Mirrambeena, Megan Turnbull, said Brian is truly inspiring and the Baptistcare team had been honoured to help organise his 100^th birthday celebrations.

“You would never guess Brian is 100 as he is so full of life and continues to be a community and family role model,” she said.

“In the decade that he has been part of the Mirrambeena family he’s taken a key role in organising our annual ANZAC ceremony which is always a special occasion.”

Click here to find out more about Baptistcare