Although he has a chestful of medals and a proud record as the country’s oldest poppy seller, Alec Penstone insists he is not a hero.
‘The heroes are all the dead ones. The heroes are the ones we left in the Arctic and on the Normandy beaches,’ the 100-year-old says from his home on the Isle of Wight.
But, in the eyes of the millions of proud Britons who saw him give a damning assessment of the state of the nation on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Friday, the D-Day veteran – who fittingly was born on St George’s Day – absolutely deserves the label.
He told stunned presenters Kate Garraway and Adil Ray that the sacrifice of the lost men of his generation ‘wasn’t worth’ what the country has become.
‘What we fought for was our freedom, but now it’s a darn sight worse than when I fought for it,’ he added on TV.
Now, as his words continue to fuel debate online, Alec has explained his point of view at length in a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Mail.
‘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,’ he says.
The widower – who is also a veteran of the Arctic convoys that took vital supplies to Russia in the Second World War – is filled with anguish and anger about what he sees as Britain’s decline.
Alec Penstone, 100, pictured with his medals, said the UK has gone to ‘rack and ruin’
‘I don’t know what the hell we fought for and [why we] lost so many wonderful men. The country has gone to rack and ruin,’ the grandfather-of-two continues.
‘There are too many people with their fingers in the till. Faith in our country was the best thing [when he was young].
‘But nowadays there’s too many people that just want their own little corner and bugger everybody else.’
Alec’s forthright view echoes a major study this month that found that eight in 10 Britons feel the nation is divided – up five percentage points from two years ago and 10 per cent since 2020.
The poll, by researchers at King’s College London and Ipsos Mori, also showed that half of the public feel Britain’s ‘culture’ is changing too fast, up from a third.
One particularly striking finding that chimed with Alec’s lament was that nostalgia for Britain’s past rose in every single age group, even among 16 to 24-year-olds.
Nearly a third of people in that age bracket wanted Britain to return to how it ‘used to be’, up from 16 per cent in 2020.
Asked of his view of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and how he thinks today’s politicians match up to him, Alec says: ‘I admired him. He was a leader. And he made sure what needed to be done was done.
Alec pictured with his late wife Gladys on their 70th wedding anniversary in 2015
‘There is no comparison whatsoever to the modern leaders. In this world today it is every man for himself.
‘I’ve got no feelings for any of them.’
During his appearance on Good Morning Britain, which came ahead of Remembrance Sunday today, Alec was treated to a rendition of Vera Lynn’s wartime hit We’ll Meet Again by all-female troupe the D-Day Darlings.
Typically though, he was dismissive of his own actions after his war service had been explained.
‘I cannot see anything that I’ve done specially that wouldn’t have been done by other people of my generation. I’m just one of the lucky ones, I’m still alive,’ he told the ITV presenters.
As he was being driven home after his outing on screen, Alec asked his taxi driver to slow down so he could salute as they passed the Cenotaph on Whitehall.
On several occasions he has been part of the parade of veterans who form the heart of the Remembrance Sunday service at the London monument each year.
This time though, he is staying at home and laying a wreath at his local memorial instead.
Alec pictured aged 20 in 1945, said he is filled with anguish and anger about what he sees as Britain’s decline
Although he is now blind, Alec still lives independently and continues raising money for the Royal British Legion through his selling of poppies.
He is remarkably resilient too. In March 2022, his beloved wife Gladys died aged 96. Her passing came just months before their 77th wedding anniversary.
After mentioning how her ashes rest on the mantlepiece of his home, Alec says of his other half: ‘She gets onto me at nighttime asking, “when are you coming to join me?”.
‘I say, “Not yet love. Sorry.”
Revealing the secret to their happy marriage, he adds: ‘We always had an agreement we would never go to sleep on an argument. One or both of us would always eat humble pie.’
Having been born in the East End of London in 1925, Alec is, as he proudly says, a ‘real Cockney’.
His feels immense pride for his father, who was severely wounded by friendly fire during the Battle of the Somme in the First World War.
He died a week before Alec turned 14, in April 1939.
Alec and his wife Gladys pictured with their family and friends on their wedding day on July 21, 1945
‘I live with perseverance,’ Alec says. ‘My dad introduced me to him. He always said if you feel you can do something son, do it. If not, don’t even start it.’
After serving through the Blitz as a messenger for the Air Raid Precautions service, Alec signed up for military service.
He had wanted to join the Merchant Navy but did not get offered a role he wanted.
‘All they would offer me was engine room and I wanted deck hand. I even volunteered to be a cook. They said no,’ he says.
‘In the end they said if you are so eager to go to sea then go to Edgware and join the real navy.
‘So I did, much to my mother’s disgust. She said, “Your father would turn in his grave if he knew what you were doing!”’
After finishing his training in December 1943, Alec was assigned to serve on submarines.
Later, he moved to escort aircraft carrier HMS Campania. It was on that ship that he took part in the Arctic Convoys to Russia.
The ship Alec served on, HMS Campania which took part in the Arctic Convoys to Russia
The missions were, Alec says, ‘hell on earth’.
It was for this service that Alec received the Russian Ushakov bravery medal.
But, disgusted by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Alec now refuses to wear it.
‘The Russian people are marvellous,’ he says. ‘I was friends with many of them. But their leader is worse than an animal.’
The Campania went on to play a vital role in the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944.
But Alec downplays his own contribution. ‘I remember very little about D-Day because I was down on the action stations. But I could hear what was going on,’ he says.
Last year, he was among the contingent of veterans who returned to Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France.
It was in France that he met King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Alec (pictured with Rod Stewart) holds a proud record as the country’s oldest poppy seller
Alec, who met the late Queen Elizabeth II more than once, says His Majesty told him ‘not to do anything silly’ before he turned 100.
He adds: ‘I’m so lucky. I don’t know why I’m spared. I never expected to be 21 let alone 100. They say the devil looks after his own.’
After VE Day in May 1945, Alec returned home to marry Gladys, who he had met by chance at Christmas in 1943.
Two days after they tied the knot, the veteran was sent back to sea. He had to serve for a further 14 months before finally being demobbed in September 1946.
He and Gladys initially lived with her parents in Tottenham before getting their own flat. Their daughter, Jackie, was born in 1962.
Alec, who worked as an electrician and also for a time ran own business, later moved his family to Stanmore in Middlesex and then Cheshunt in Hertfordshire.
A move to Burton-on-Trent – which became home for 20 years – followed in 1989.
Then, in 2009, Alec and Gladys settled on the Isle of Wight.
As a couple, they spent their retirement giving talks in schools about their wartime experience.
Alec reiterates: ‘I never ever expected to reach 100, I must admit, that was beyond my wildest dreams.’
But, despite his surprise, he keeps on going. ‘Every Saturday and every Wednesday morning, I sell poppies.
‘I’m the oldest continuously serving poppy seller in the United Kingdom. I have a gold medal to prove it.’
