We were delighted to join 102-year-old veteran Mary Marsden as she departed from her home to head for the VE Day Tea Party and Commemorative Service at the National Memorial Arboretum last week.
Mary joined the Royal Air Force in November 1940. At 4ft 11ins she was an inch too short to be a driver, so spent the war as a cook serving meals to bomber crews under training, initially at RAF Finningley and RAF Wymeswold and later at other locations.
Speaking before she left her home in Sheffield for the service, Mary said: “I look back very fondly on my years of service and they were some of the most enjoyable times of my life.
“My husband served in the RAF as a Chief Technician and we spent many happy years together in married quarters and I have so many wonderful memories from those times. I wish I could live them all again to be honest!”
“I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped arrange today’s visit for me and I’m sure it is going to be a wonderful day. It will be nice to meet other veterans as well as remember those who we have lost.”
We would like to thank MBE Chauffeurs for transporting Mary to and from the service free of charge and we are extremely grateful for this very kind gesture.
Mary is pictured with her friend Jane Crowther and former Squadron Leader Barry Darwin.
