A LIVE concert and a tea party were in order to mark a Solihull woman’s 100th birthday.
Barbara Bale was joined family and close friends, Army and RAF Nurses and Healthcare Assistants from the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Solihull Mayor, Councillor Annette Mackenzie, at the Royal Star and Garter.
She also received many birthday cards, including one from The King and Queen.
Barbara was born in Yardley in May 1926, and was 13 when the Second World War broke out.
She recalls on one occasion the windows of her home being shattered during a German air raid while the family sought safety in an Anderson shelter in the rear garden.
During the war, Barbara met Bill, who was a pilot in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, and the couple married in 1950.
Sadly, Bill, who was by now a teacher at Solihull School, died suddenly in 1969 while on a trip with his pupils to Naples.
Later in life, Barbara spent a lot of time volunteering – at the visitors’ shop at the National Trust’s Packwood House and at the Age Concern shop in Solihull.
She also volunteered with Meals on Wheels and at nursing homes.
Barbara first started going to Royal Star and Garter, which cares for veterans and their spouses with dementia or disability as a day care guest, before becoming a long-term resident in 2020.
Armed Forces Nurses and Healthcare Assistants from the RCDM are regular visitors to the Solihull Home, joining in activities and chatting to veterans.