Volunteers from the Taxi Charity joined Roy Maxwell and his family and friends on Sunday 20 February to celebrate his 100th birthday.
The surprise party for Roy was held at The Players Golf Club in Codrington on Sunday 20 February, the day before his 100th birthday.
Roy was born in Rhyl, North Wales, on 21 February 1922 and was brought up on his grandfather's farm. He married Tegwedd and they had a daughter Jane. In 1976, Jane had Roy’s granddaughter Bianca in Iran, and Roy and Tegwedd travelled out to spend a month with them.
Roy Maxwell was part of No.4 Commando, who in June 1944, as part of the 1st Special Service Brigade, landed on Sword Beach. After the war, Roy had a series of jobs working with his brother-in-law in construction, as well as working in a garage, a department store and a builders' merchants. When the builders' merchants was sold to Jewson’s, Roy stayed with them until he retired.
In later years, when Tegwedd’s health did not allow her to travel, Roy enjoyed many holidays with his cousin in Spain; and when he was 87, he made his first trip to Australia, travelling on his own to see an army buddy from No.4 Commando, a trip he made every year until he was 97.
Roy really enjoys his involvement with the Taxi Charity and was delighted to see so many of his friends from the charity at his party.
Ian Parsons, chairman of the Taxi Charity, said: "Despite the atrocious weather, it was lovely to see that so many friends and family had travelled from all over the country to celebrate with Roy. On behalf of the Taxi Charity, I was delighted to present Roy with a framed portrait of him standing by the Bill Millin statue, taken in 2016 above Sword Beach, during a Taxi Charity trip to Normandy for the D-Day commemorations."
Dick Goodwin, vice president of the Taxi Charity, said: "It was wonderful to spend the afternoon with Roy to celebrate his 100th birthday and we were delighted that the BBC joined the party to record the special celebrations. Roy is such a popular member of the Taxi Charity family and he has been with us on trips to Normandy and the Netherlands as well as on outings across the UK. My wife Susy, who also volunteers for the charity, and I presented the birthday boy with a framed 1922 Half Penny."
Left - Roy Maxwell with Chairman of the Taxi Charity Ian Parson
Middle – Roy Maxwell with his great, great, nephew, former international rugby player James Haskell
Right – Roy Maxwell with Lieutenant Colonel Richard Piso, Military Attaché, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
