FROM hand-to-hand combat in the Burmese jungle to tackling towering infernos in London as a firefighter, Bill Hickey has not exactly lived a quiet life.
But as he turns 100 this month, he says it is camping with friends and enjoying the peace of rural Essex that gives him a real thrill.
"There is nothing better than sitting outside a caravan with a cup of tea and the birds singing – the world just becomes so peaceful," said the Chelmsford man, who celebrated his milestone birthday with a party for all his family last weekend.
Bill was born in Ireland in 1913. His father was Catholic and his mother was a Protestant, an Englishwoman called Ruth. They moved to England because Bill's father's family did not approve of their marriage.
Growing up in London and working 12-hour shifts in a bakery, the young Bill realised he had only one chance to escape.
"At that time unless your parents had money then you had little or no prospects, you were virtually a slave," said the pensioner.
"I thought to myself there must be more than this to life and so joining the Army seemed the best way forward."
So at just 14 he joined the Royal Horse Artillery, serving in India and carrying out covert missions against the Italian army in East Africa.
Then, as the Second World War broke out, the father-of-four was shipped out to Burma.
"We were trained in martial arts so we could fight the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat in the swamps of the jungle," said Bill.
"Any man that tells you he wasn't scared was a liar. But when it came to it, the instinct for survival took over and you didn't think, you just did.
"You used knives, guns, teeth, anything – we had to be like animals," Bill added.
Waiting at home for the young soldier was his childhood sweetheart Vera, who he married in 1939 before enduring four years apart.
The couple spent much of their married life in London with their four daughters and Bill once again risking his life – this time as a firefighter, before moving to Chelmsford 14 years ago.
"When we started getting a little older our family encouraged us to move here, and we chose Chelmsford as a lot of our friends were nearby," said Bill, who has six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Vera died at 82, just weeks before the couple would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
Bill added: "I think the secret is to live your life properly and not abuse anything.
"I live by the saying 'do as you would be done by', you've always got to be willing to help others."
