Harry Celebrates Milestone 100th Birthday
We wish Resthaven Marion resident, Mr Harry Colton, a very happy 100th birthday!
Mr Colton’s family shares his story with us:
Harry Colton was born 21 May, 1921, in Blyth, a small town on the North Sea coast in the county of Northumberland, England. It’s just below the Scottish Border and near Newcastle On Tyne.
He was born in a house without electricity, with gas lights, and a big wooden radio powered by a car battery.
He had an older brother, Billy, and a younger brother, Joe, who he outlived by decades.
Harry met Norma, his future wife, when he was 17 and she was 15.
Harry trained as a motor mechanic, and when WWII broke out he joined the RAF. He served in the ground crew of the 86 squadron, Coastal Command, whose role was hunting the U-boats attacking convoys in the North Atlantic. He was stationed in Scotland, Ireland and Iceland.
Meanwhile, Norma moved south to work in a factory building bombers.
In 1943, Harry and Norma married. Brian, their eldest child, was born in 1945, followed by Malcolm (who now lives in California) in 1948, and Lorna in 1951.
After demobilisation, Harry worked in the maintenance department of Bolckows, a ship breaking company.
In 1957, Harry and Norma made the monumental decision to emigrate to Australia. The Suez Canal was closed and the family sailed around Africa on a P&O liner, a journey of about six weeks.
After only a week in the Finsbury migrant hostel, both Harry and Norma had found jobs, with Norma’s, including free use of a house at Mitchell Park.
The next move was to their own house at Darlington, followed by Seaview Downs, and finally Kingston Park.
For many years, Harry and Norma were active in their Probus Clubs, and their dinner parties were notorious. They loved local holidays, and also made trips to their relatives in Blyth, and visited Malcolm in California.
Norma, the love of Harry’s life, died in 2012 at the age of 89.
Harry moved to Resthaven Marion in 2019. He celebrated his milestone 100th birthday with family and friends, and his words of wisdom are to ‘play the game’ – he says with a chuckle!
Thank you for sharing your story.
Established in 1935, Resthaven is a South Australian not-for-profit aged care community service associated with the Uniting Church in Australia. Every day, Resthaven shares the lives and wisdom of older people and their carers, opening doors to the full range of aged care service options available.