An intimate Anzac service was held in Christchurch on Thursday, honouring the remarkable bravery of Jack Marshall, a rear gunner in the Second World War.
The highly-decorated 101-year-old defied the odds, completing two full tours of duty over Europe’s skies.
British-born Marshall joined the RNZAF Wellington bombers and completed 46 missions over Europe as a tail gunner. The odds of coming home were one in three.
There were close calls early on, his World War Two bomber crashing into the Northern Sea.
“I spent the next 16 hours floating around this dingy with what was left of the crew. We lost a second pilot – he went under, we didn’t see him again,” Marshall told 1News.
The flowers that symbolise sacrifice go on sale before ANZAC Day, and it's expected they'll raise around $2 million. (Source: 1News)
Survivors were eventually rescued by a fishing trawler.
Inside his room in a small Christchurch retirement village, Marshall’s room is a memoir, filled with memories of his time at war.
A service of remembrance on Thursday was kept small to keep Marshall and his fellow veterans safe from Covid, but he’s far from worried about the pandemic.
“It wouldn’t worry me if I popped off tomorrow,” a laughing Marshall said. “I had a wonderful innings."
Marshall is thankful he can still mark this ANZAC Day and the war that’s lived in his mind ever since.
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