Special effort as war veteran Stan turns 100
A war veteran who survived the bloody Battle of Monte Cassino will be celebrating his 100th birthday tomorrow.
And members of the Royal British Legion are doing their best to give Stanley Burgess a big day to remember despite the coronavirus restrictions.
Mr Burgess lives at Cartlidge House residential home in Oakengates.
As a young soldier he served in the desert campaign and has a treasured photograph of meeting Field Marshal Montgomery on the eve of the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942.
Later he fought in Italy during the brutal Cassino battles.
Moira Wallace, secretary of Oakengates and district branch of the RBL, said: “Normally we as Oakengates Royal British Legion would have been visiting Stanley on a regular basis, as we have done for several years.
"Due to the Covid restrictions this has not been possible, but we have managed, with the help of the staff at Cartlidge House, to have video calls with him. We have also kept in touch via cards and letters.
“Sadly, we as a branch are unable to celebrate Stanley’s big day as we would have liked.
"We have however arranged a cake for him and in agreement with Cartlidge House a few members will attend on Thursday to wave to Stanley through the window and leave his cake and cards.”
Stan joined the Army in May 1940 and went on to serve with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, the South Staffordshire Regiment, and the Coldstream Guards.
After leaving the Army in 1946 he became a train driver based at Wolverhampton.
