Britain's oldest poppy seller is a 103-year-old Second World War veteran
The oldest poppy seller in the UK is a 103-year-old World War II veteran.
Walter “Wally” Randall is the oldest fundraiser for the Royal British Legion and has been selling poppies for the past 70 years.
Mr Randall, from the village of Wing, Buckinghamshire, has been selling poppies in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, since the early 1950s.
He was in the service corps during World War Two before he later held the positions of branch chairman and club chairman for the Leighton Buzzard Royal British Legion.
This year he will return to the retail shop Wilko in Bedfordshire to continue to sell poppies.
Mr Randall, who celebrated his 103rd birthday on September 8, said: “I like to do my little bit to help the heroes, like those on the Invictus Games.
“I hope to be selling on Mondays and Wednesday’s for a few hours or for as long as I have the energy.
“I’m going to get a poppy appeal box and then my granddaughter Emma will run me down and drop me outside the shop.
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“They let me sit inside and they usually keep me supplied with drinks if I ever want a cup of tea – it’s very good there.
“I enjoy doing it because old friends come up and it’s amazing how generous people are. They come and put money in the box and say ‘I have already got a poppy’.
“I am looking forward to it, I do enjoy it and people are so generous.”
The veteran soldier is the proud recipient of a lifetime certificate for services to the local branch and has showed no signs of hanging up his collection tin yet.
Mr Randall lived in Wing until he was three years old when his father, Daniel Randall, 23, a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, died in the First World War on November 10, 1918 – a day before the end of the war.
His family then moved to Leighton Buzzard to live with his grandparents.
Speaking of his war record, he said: “In 1942 I was kitted out to go to the Far East but then Singapore fell to the Japanese. I was then sent to North Africa and the Nazis drove us back into Egypt.”
The poppy appeal started on October 27 and runs until November 11.
