![]() from the Tasmania Examiner 27 June 2003 Remarkable digger's life celebrated
The last surviving Australian World War I veteran to be decorated for bravery, yesterday celebrated his 107th birthday at a nursing home in North-West Tasmania. He endured a rigorous round of media interviews and later, flanked by family and friends, blew out his single birthday candle. "I have broken tradition a little bit," Mr MacDonald said. "Most of my family didn't live beyond their 80s. "Somebody said the other day I was the oldest person in Australia - I hardly think that's right. "I don't feel any different." Enlisting in the army in 1916 after earlier being knocked back for having rotten teeth, Mr MacDonald became a member of the famous Tasmanian 40th Battalion. He won the Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry under fire at Ypres, on the Belgian-French border, in October 1917. Signing up again for World War II, he was considered too old for active duty and confined to a desk job at Sydney's Victoria Barracks. Mr MacDonald, who suffered a health scare late last year, is one of just seven Australian World War I veterans still alive. Although hard of hearing, almost blind and a little shaky on his pins, he said he considered himself very fortunate to still be in good health. "You go through a lot of different phases in a life as long as mine," Mr MacDonald said. "There's a bit of excitement here and there. "One thing I did enjoy was the war - I liked shooting. "They (the enemy) were very unlucky if they got in my sights." Local history and English teacher Barry Wood, who was at yesterday's party, reckons Mr MacDonald is a national icon. He is so captivated by the veteran's story that he has given up his job to work on it full-time. "He's remarkable really," Mr Wood said. "He's got a reputation for having an incredible memory. He can go back 100 years ago and remember details with clarity." .
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