WW2 hero, 100, tears into Labour’s broken Britain: ‘It’s not a nice place anymore!’

Alec Penstone© Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror

A WW2 hero has slammed Labour’s broken Britain, which he says “just doesn’t seem to be a nice place any more”. Few know service and courage like Royal Navy hero Alec Penstone. The 100-year-old World War II veteran was just 15 when war broke out and signed up as soon as he was old enough to fight for his country.

Alec from Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight, joined after making a promise to his father that he would not serve in the trenches, due to the horrors he had witnessed during World War I. Each year, he returns to Normandy, where he served on D-Day, to salute his fallen friends.

However, in a damning indictment of broken Britain under Labour, he asks whether the sacrifice was worthwhile.

Speaking exclusively to the Express on Remembrance Sunday, Alec said: “There are too many people with their hands in the till and who just think, ‘what can I get out of the country?’

“This country is so divided it just doesn’t seem to be a nice place any more, and I blame the politicians, none of whom seem to have the backing of the people. It’s all self, self, self. What on Earth has happened?”

Alec Penstone© Jonathan Buckmaster

Alec was born on April 23, 1925, when Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister. And few are as proud or patriotic as he.

He said: “I was born on St George’s Day and proudly fly my flag each and every day. And I tell you something, if anyone tries to remove it, they’ll have to get past me first. What is happening now is beyond all comprehension.”

Alec was too young to join up when war broke out in 1939, so he volunteered as a messenger during the Blitz.

He spent his teens “pulling bodies out of bombed buildings” until he was old enough to quit his factory job and fight for his country.

Able Seaman Alec served aboard HMS Campania, an escort aircraft carrier, defending the invading Allied armada from German U-boats and submarines. During the D-Day invasion, he spent his time three decks below on constant action stations and on-watch listening for torpedoes, mines and U-boats.

He later served on Arctic convoy ships delivering essential supplies to northern ports in the Soviet Union and made a total of 10 perilous crossings.

Alec met his sweetheart, Gladys, on Christmas Eve 1943 while on leave.

They married on July 21, 1945, but just two days later, he returned to duty and set sail for the Far East. Alec served for a further 14 months after the war ended before he was demobilised in September 1946.

They were together for 77 years until Gladys died in 2022.

Her ashes sit on the mantelpiece at their home, and Alec says she visits him nightly.

He said: “She tells me to come and join her soon. She still comes every night and asks ‘when are you coming to join me?’ I say, ‘sorry love I’m not ready yet. But I won’t be long.”

Alec’s father, Alec senior, served in the 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment and was seriously injured and left for dead during the Battle of the Somme. He survived but was crippled and died when his son was 40.

Alec junior was awarded the Legion of Honour, the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, for his service on D-Day and each year returns with the Spirit of Normandy Trust to participate in commemorations to honour those who perished across the Channel.

Around 384,000 British military personnel died during WW2 across all branches of the Armed Forces and the Merchant Navy.

Each year, Alec and his chums pay a pilgrimage to the British Normandy Memorial, the stunning edifice overlooking Gold Beach where the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division stormed ashore on D-Day, and which records the names of 22,442 soldiers who fell on June 6, 1944 and the three-month Battle of Normandy that followed.

Alec, who participated in a remembrance service in Newport, said: “To us, the names carved there are not just names. They are real people. We can see their faces, and for some of them, we can still recall their voices. It is so important for us to always remember them.

“I can see in my mind’s eye those rows and rows of white stones and all the hundreds of my friends who gave their lives, for what? The country of today?

“I’m sorry, but the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result of what it is now. What we fought for was our freedom, but now it’s a darn sight worse than when I fought for it.

“I’m not a hero, I never was, I am just so lucky. The heroes are the ones who never returned. They knew they were going to their death. They were your family, and I am so grateful for what they did.

“Some of the younger generation don’t understand because they have never been taught. That is why it is so important to teach them about what happened and why.”

He added: “Bravery? We just did our jobs and to the best of our abilities. I have always said I am not a hero, I am just one very lucky person.”

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