THE residents of Midwinter Gardens in Stratton held a party yesterday as their oldest and longest standing resident reached the grand age of 100.

Sam Miskimmin moved to the sheltered housing complex with his wife May in 1985 when it first opened and has been there ever since.

For Sam it was a return to familiar territory, the very same patch of land had been his temporary home when he first moved to Swindon in search of work in the 1950s.

Joan Miskimmin, Sam’s daughter in law, said: “There was a hostel here then, huts built after the war.

“He lived here for six weeks before he moved into a house and brought the family down.”

Like many new arrivals to Swindon, Sam went to work at the Pressed Steel plant where he would stay until his retirement.

“I knew a few chaps who got jobs down here, there weren’t many jobs back at home,” said Sam.

Sam was born in Wallsend on Tyne in 1918, he was one of five children.

There must have been something in the Wallsend water back then because his older sister Blanche is also still going strong at 101.

In 1943, like many of his generation, Sam volunteered to serve in the armed forces.

He joined the RAF and was sent north of the border to RAF Kinloss for training.

He would go on to become a rear gunner in the Halifax bombers – based at RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire, he served in 161 Squadron, a highly secretive unit working closely with the Special Operations Executive.

As well as their bomber missions, the unit flew gliders carrying vital bits of kit on daring missions over the Rhine.

As is so often the case with those who served during the war, Sam is humble about his role.

“There was a lot of training,” he said. “But they told me I was too short to be a pilot.”

After the war Sam returned home to the North East, he married May in 1945 and began work for a company making mining equipment.

When May joined Sam in Swindon they lived in Park South, Walcot and later in Covingham.

They had three children – David who lives in Swindon, Paul in Kent and Valerie who made her home in Lake Forrest, California.

As well as being a father of three, he is also a proud grandfather of five and great grandfather of eight.

When his wife May sadly passed away in 1994, Sam would regularly make the trip across the Atlantic to visit his daughter and grandchildren.

Daughter Valerie made the trip back in this direction this weekend to be with her dad as he marks his 100 years.

Sam stills like a trip to the pub for a nice meal and was looking forward to tucking into a celebratory feast with the family on this momentous occasion.