Former rifleman William Thomas Mitchell was presumed dead after being caught by the Nazis during The Battle of Crete, two years into the Second World War.

After getting out of prison camp in Germany – where he was eventually transported after his capture in Greece – and linking up with the Russians, the battalion ranger of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps Regiment returned to his parents’ home in London in 1945 to find they had moved.

Thankfully, they were reunited shortly after.

On Sunday, December 10, 72 years later, Bill, as his family and friends call him, reached his landmark 100th birthday, and all he wanted was a drink.

The former factory and dock worker, who moved to Gravesend with his late wife Lilian in 2014, and resides in Valley Drive, said: “I would like a drop of whiskey.”

When asked his secret to long living, he said: “I don’t know how I got to 100.”

Mr Mitchell was an enthusiastic sportsman, playing for a pub football team in the capital, and an avid darts player during his younger years.

He married his wife, who he met during an evening out after the war, in August 1949, and they spent their honeymoon in Ramsgate.

It did not get off to the best of starts as his new wife complained about the smell – their flat for the first night was above a fish and chip shop.

Later in his life, Mr Mitchell worked in a glazing warehouse before retiring at the age of 65 and taking up a post as a messenger around London until his 70s.

The couple, who were married for 65 years, had two children, Barry Mitchell and Christine Mason , who both live in the Singlewell area of Gravesend.

Mr Mitchell had a birthday party on Sunday, December 10, with his family and residents at his home in Watling Court extra care housing scheme, where they played games, danced – and had a little tipple.