Margaret River war veteran Brian Walley celebrates 100 not out

One of the region’s most famous veterans has celebrated yet another milestone, turning 100 at the weekend. British World War II veteran Brian Walley never expected to survive the war, so blowing out 100 candles on his birthday cake on Saturday was a time for reflection. The veteran, whose son Allan was a respected local doctor, wrote a poem for the occasion noting “I’ve been on this Earth too bloody long”. The centenary was also a bittersweet occasion after his wife of 76 years, Mair, sadly passed away several weeks ago following a decade living with dementia, supported by her husband and carers at Mirrambeena. While much has been reported about Mr Walley’s World War II heroics, it was the lifelong love affair with Mair which featured most heavily in his reflection. The couple met soon before Mr Walley was shipped off to fight in Europe where he was later wounded and captured, spending several years as a prisoner of the Germans. He was just 17 when he met Mair, who was 15 at the time. During the next three years in confinement, Red Cross parcels kept Mr Walley’s spirits up along with letters from his special girl, Mair Mawson. “Mair was a lifeline home, she’s always been my lifeline,” he said. By 1945, rumours of a last-ditch stand by Hitler began to fly around, and the German guards left the camp where Mr Walley was interred. Along with comrades, Mr Walley made yet another escape attempt. “Two days later we were picked up by a Jeep with three Yanks in it,” he previously told the Times. Crossing the Elbe into American camps on May 7, Mr Walley was finally free. It took another week to get home, reunited with family, but most importantly Mair. The Walleys eventually migrated to Australia and settled in Margaret River where they had five children, later bolstered to 14 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren. Mr Walley recounted his war experiences through a series of books, eventually published in five volumes focused on his rich and fascinating life. His accounts of a doomed RAF flight on November 7, 1941, were particularly harrowing. Mr Walley was the second pilot flying an old Whitely V Plane from Yorkshire “full of bombs and petrol bound for Berlin, under enemy fire”. The plane went down and the crew were in a battered dinghy after surviving the “inevitable ditching”. Forty-eight horrendous hours in the turbulent North Sea followed during which two other crew members were tragically washed away when the dinghy capsized. Two more died of exposure, leaving Mr Walley the sole survivor. In 1995, enemies became friends when Mr Walley revisited Germany and met his captors once more. “I met the kommandant who spoke to me when I was captured,” he said. “I’m proud of what I did, it was in the pursuit of freedom.” The Mirrambeena resident was celebrated on Saturday and honoured by his carers as well as fellow residents.