WWII Veteran Ray Whitwell To Celebrate his 103 Birthday

On 17 March, WWII Veteran Ray Whitwell from Malton, North Yorkshire will be 103, he will celebrate with his daughter Jill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of  February 2022, at the grand old age of 102,  Ray Whitwell joined  the Taxi Charity on their trip to The Netherlands. Ray kept everyone entertained throughout the weekend  with his wicked sense of humour and was keen to tell those he met that he was 102 and 11 months.

Ray fought at the Battle of Arnhem, so the visit brought back many poignant memories, During the weekend he visited the Airborne Museum at Hartenstein, which pays tributes to the allies who fought in Arnhem as well as  the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery to pay his respects to his friends and comrades who didn’t come home.

 

Ray landed in The Netherlands in September 1944 for Operation Market Garden  where more than 600 gliders were towed into battle to secure the River Rhine crossings and advance into northern Germany. He says of that time with his usual acerbic sense of humour  “We went nine days without food during the Arnhem conflict and then snipers shot holes in the bucket we were collecting water in.”  One of the lucky ones, he evaded capture as he crossed the Rhine and made his way back to British lines.

 

London Cab Driver and Volunteer for the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans Seb Philp, said, “I have been Ray’s regular driver for Taxi Charity trips for many years. I drive to Malton to pick him up and our journeys are always very entertaining. He is amazing for his age  and thoroughly enjoys these  charity visits to the areas that he knows well from the war. We will be returning to The Netherlands in May with Ray for the Dutch Liberation commemorations and will raise a special toast to this lovely man for his 103rd birthday.”

 

Ray will be celebrating his birthday on 17 March with his daughter Jill who will be taking him for lunch.

 

To find out more about the support the Taxi Charity offers veterans visit www.taxicharity.org

About the Taxi Charity

 

The Taxi Charity is run by volunteer London black taxi drivers and has been supporting thousands of veterans of all ages since 1948. The charity arranges free trips to the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, for acts of commemoration and days out to museums, concerts, or fundraising events in the UK, to catch up with friends and comrades.

The Charity worked tirelessly during the pandemic to ensure veterans received regular contact by sending out a greeting card each month, gifts to mark the 75th anniversaries of VE and VJ day, stockings at Christmas and arranging Guards of Honour at veterans’ funerals. Volunteers have also helped with regular phone calls, food shopping, transport to hospital appointments, and more recently taking veterans for their Coronavirus injections.

The charity was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in June 2021.

To fund and facilitate their work, the charity is reliant on generous donations from members of the public, businesses, and trusts.

www.taxicharity.org