Daily tot of rum kept Britain’s oldest Second World War veteran healthy until 109

Shipwrecked twice, Waddingham survived the war and his funeral was a fitting send-off, with a dozen Royal Navy standard bearers walking into the packed church, flanked by the war hero’s friends and family.

The congregation sang Eternal Father Strong to Save, before the choir delivered Waddingham’s favourite anthem, Psalm 107 Verses 23-30 set to music by Herbert Sumsion.

“They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end, when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,” the choir sang, before adding the poignant line: “He delivereth them out of their distress.”

Waddingham survived two sinkings in 12 months, first during the Dunkirk evacuation and again while defending Crete from invasion.

Born in London and brought up in Belfast before moving to East Anglia when the Troubles in Ulster broke out, Waddingham signed up to the Royal Navy aged 16 and trained aboard HMS Ganges at Shotley.

In May 1940, he was serving on HMS Wakeful during the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk.

Turning towards England with more than 600 troops and 100 crew aboard, the destroyer was torpedoed by a German E-boat.

Torn in two, the ship sank in minutes with just four soldiers and 25 crew surviving.

Waddingham was catapulted into the Channel from the upper deck by the force of the blast before being rescued by a passing ship.

A year later, the Royal Navy gunner was on board HMS Juno when it was struck by Italian aircraft bombs, causing it to capsize off Crete. Of 220 men aboard, only 104 survived.

He would continue to serve until the war’s end, including on the Hunt-class destroyer Mendip on North Sea and Channel duties.

Post-war, Waddingham was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant and earned a marine physics degree. He became a school teacher before joining the Royal Air Force’s educational wing where he reached the rank of Squadron Leader.

Returning to civvy street, he became a PE teacher and ran the CCF at Archbishop Tenison’s Grammar School in Oval, Lambeth, where he was initiated into the school’s Masonic lodge.

He went on to achieve London Grand Rank, founded a Surrey lodge and joined several other craft lodges including Royal Sovereign Light Lodge, where he was installed as worshipful master at the age of 100.

When asked about the secret to his longevity, he would respond: “A daily tot of Navy rum (not before midday), not eating after 6pm, the support of the church, and the fellowship of the Masons.”

The funeral heard that Waddingham told friends he needed the rum to combat the oil he swallowed during one of his shipwrecks.

His grandson, also named Harry Waddingham, led the congregation in a toast of rum in his grandfather’s honour.

In another tribute, Dr Roger Elias told the congregation that Waddingham had been “one of the most honourable men he had ever known”.

Dr Elias said his friend had a “prodigious memory and an exhaustive list of songs”, which saw him rattling off all eight verses of the trad song The Wild Colonial Boy, to a healthcare worker not long before he died.

Waddingham never lost his wit either, telling Dr Elias to give him a “good character reference” in his speech just in case he ever came back.

Dr Elias added: “The highest accolade you afforded to people you knew was shipmate. You would have been thrilled to see so many shipmates here.”

Among those in attendance was Rear-Adml John Kingwell, who delivered a reading of Romans 7:15-25.

Vice-Adml Duncan Potts, president of the Royal Navy Association, had previously described Waddingham as “one of a kind” and his passing as marking “the end of an era”.

He said: “To reach 109 years is extraordinary in itself, but to have lived a life of service and integrity makes his passing all the more poignant.

“His life stands as a testament to the courage and sacrifice of the wartime generation, whose legacy continues to inspire us all.

“We are immensely proud to have called him one of our own, and he will be greatly missed.”

The funeral service was brought to a close by the Last Post, Reveille and the National Anthem.

Waddingham is survived by two sons from his first marriage and three grandchildren, one of whom is the actress Hannah Waddingham, star of Ted Lasso and Sex Education.

He married his second wife, Collette Goubault, in 1984.

“They both believed he would go first,” his friend Tim Kemp told the congregation, adding that he had found a letter Waddingham had prepared before his wife’s death in 2025, aged 92.

“I have not left you. Death is nothing at all, don’t give it another thought. I have only gone into the garden or the next room,” he wrote, adding: “I am still myself. Know my darling Collette that I am waiting for you.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]