Marching On….Navy Veteran Reg Marks 100th Birthday with Drum Roll From Sea Cadets Band

Cheers rang out as Navy war veteran Reg Draper celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by friends, family, and the stirring sounds of the Sea Cadets band.

As the first note rang out, Reg’s eyes lit up—he’d once played the big bass drum at parades himself. “I could march for miles, as long as I had that drum strapped on,” he chuckled. “Made a better noise than I ever could singing.”

A tot of rum might still be his tipple of choice, but Reg gladly raised a glass of bubbly to mark the milestone.

After serving in the Second World War aboard the Duke of York battleship, he later helped shape young lives as Lt Commander of the Sea Cadets in Wirral and Ellesmere Port.

“I still swear by my 11am tot—it’s never done me any harm,” Reg laughed, holding court at a local community centre, where the festivities honoured not just his longevity but his incredible service.

Memories of Reg’s time in service remain vivid, from braving the perilous Arctic Convoys to witnessing the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. There was even a royal run-in: a game of deck hockey that landed Reg in sick bay after an unexpected clash with Prince Philip.

His home at Elton in Cheshire is now adorned with a card from King Charles and a recent medal from Russia for service in the Arctic seas. Reg remains as sharp as ever—and as humble. “The only time I’d ever left Yorkshire before joining the Navy was to holiday in Blackpool,” he grins. “I didn’t exactly take to submarines—felt like being trapped in a tin can.”

Harry Turnbull is an experienced journalist based in the north who has held a variety of reporting and editing roles in the media.He also writes a reviews column for the UK’s biggest archive of BBC radio dramas.