Happy 100th Birthday love from all at Margaret House xx
Margaret celebrated her 100th birthday on May 21st, with a very special cake and of course, a card from the Queen. Like many of her generation she has seen so many changes and survived so many hardships that reaching the milestone of 100 years old in the midst of a global pandemic may seem like a piece of cake!
Margaret was born in Scotland, she joined the WAAF in 1940 and served for 18 year before marrying a fellow airman, James. His 26 years service brought the family to Hertfordshire as he was an engineer at De Haviland, now BAe.
Margaret’s service took her around the world and she was involved in some of the crunch events of the 40’s and 50’s, helping with the administration of the emergency airlifts to Berlin and troop movements at the height of the Civil War in Cyprus. This, together with her postings to Egypt and elsewhere led to her work being recognised and she was invited to the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Community-spirited Margaret used these skills to become a CAB advisor and also a Treasurer on many charity committees, fundraising for the British Heart Foundation and setting up the Oxfam bookshop in Hertford. She moved from WGC to Royston to be near her daughter and two grandchildren, but continued with her love of walking holidays, visiting Nepal, Peru and the Great Wall of China in her 80’s.
Now, whenever an exotic location is mentioned to her by a carer or visitor to Margaret House, she says “Oh, I have been there ….” and she probably has!