A telegram from the Queen will be given to Margate’s Connie Stafford today (June 25) as she marks her 100th birthday.
The mum of one daughter, Trisha, has an eventful beginning to life growing up in Manston children’s home.
She went on to a housekeeping role before working on the railway shovelling coal in the steam trains.
Niece Angela Hughes said: “She was fired at by the Germans during the war when she was working on the railway and so she stood against the train to avoid being shot. A bullet lodged in her shoe!”
Connie was married twice. She worked as a cook at Drapers Mills school and made many friends.
Angela added: “She adores children and animals and her eyes sparkle when she sees them. She lived on her own for the last 35 years and did all her decorating and DIY herself until recent years.
“She loved gardening and had a beautiful garden. Last year she moved into residential care.”
Connie now lives at Green Gables in Northdown Road.
Today she will joining Angela, her stepson and wife and other family members for tea, sandwiches, cakes and the presentation of that all important telegram.
The year Connie was born:
George V was on the throne
David Lloyd George was the coalition Prime Minister
3 January – soldiers blockade Folkestone harbour in a successful protest against being returned to France
27 February – marriage of Princess Patricia of Connaught to Commander The Hon. Alexander Ramsay, the first royal wedding at Westminster Abbey since the 14th century
3 April – Government agrees to begin release of imprisoned conscientious objectors
28 June – Treaty of Versailles signed.
18 July – The Cenotaph in London is unveiled to commemorate the dead of World War One
19 July – Peace Day: victory parades across Britain celebrate the end of World War One
31 July Police strike in London and Liverpool for recognition of the National Union of Police and Prison Officers.
11 November – First Remembrance Day observed with two minutes silence
1 December – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor becomes the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons, and the second to be elected, having stood at the Plymouth Sutton by-election on 28 November to succeed her husband as a Unionist member
15 December – Meat rationing ends