Britain is no country for hundred year old Second World War veteran, Alec Penstone

When interviewed on TV by Kate Garraway on 'Good Morning Britain', Alec, a 100-year-old veteran of the Second World War was asked what his message was at this time when Britain remembers the service men and women who had died in War. He then stunned her and her fellow host, Adil Ray and 700,000 viewers when he replied :

“My message is, 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? No, 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".(link)

Since the interview his words continue to fuel debate online and Alec himself has not elaborated on what he meant and merely said : "It was my own personal opinion but evidently it touched a chord with very many people. My daughter has had so many messages from all over the world".

Alec, who was born in Hackney in Lindon in the spring of 1925, was 15 years old when  Germany began the bombing of London a year after the outbreak of the Second World War. He recalled : “As the Blitz started in London, I volunteered as a part time as a Air Raid Precautions messenger and served all the way throughout the Blitz in 1940- 41 as a messenger. The moments at 15 years of age, pulling bodies out of bombed buildings you grow up very quickly”.

He was called up for national service in the Royal Navy when he was 18 in 1943. He finished his training in December and was assigned on board a submarine and served on submarines before being moved to HMS Campania, an escort aircraft carrier and took part in protecting cargo ships from submarines in the Arctic Convoys to Russia. Alec recalled :

"The ASDIC cabinet where I worked, listening out for torpedoes was just above the bilges, right down underneath the recreation space, two decks down. So, we're about 27 feet beneath the water line in there. So, we all agreed that rather than die in the freezing water, we'd sooner go off with a bang. So, the three of us all had an agreement that we'd stay down there. And that was it".

The ship played a vital role in the D-Day landings as it was used to sweep for mines and search for U Boats. Then, after a week in the Normandy area, Alec and HMS Campania returned to their duties in the Arctic Convoy and made a total of 10 crossings.

After VE Day and the end of the War against Germany in Europe, Alec returned home to his fiancé Gladys, but it wasn’t long before he was drafted to help in the war effort still waging in the Far East. After securing a few extra days leave, the couple married on 21 July 1945 and then two days later Alec returned to duty.

Alec served for a further 14 months after the war ended before he was finally demobbed in September 1946. When he returned home much had changed including his relationship with his wife, but despite some initial setbacks Alec and Gladys went on to enjoy a marriage of 75 years until her death in 2020.

Perhaps we will never know what exactly Alec meant when in pain and anguish he remembered and asked the question : 

     "The hundreds of my friends who gave their lives, for what? "