Shrapnel can’t stop this party
A PIECE of shrapnel might almost have been a heartstopping moment for Tom Heslip but it has not stopped him from living to a ripe old age.
Mr Heslip who served in Italy in World War 2 celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday with friends and family at the Gore and
Districts Memorial RSA.
He was wounded twice during the war, Mr Heslip said.
He was invalided home after a second piece of shrapnel damaged his calf muscle.
The remaining piece is embedded in the wall of his chest close to his heart.
‘‘It gives no trouble.
‘‘It doesn’t move.’’
However, if it had kept moving it would have hit his heart.
He was proud of the day he saved the lives of a group of soldiers who were trapped in a building.
The Germans were firing armourpiercing shells or ‘‘spud digger’’ as the New Zealanders called them.
The shells crashed through the walls and exploded inside, he said.
The door of the building had been blown back on its hinges so it was slightly open the wrong way and the men could not get out.
Without thinking, he put one shoulder to the door and when it did not move he hit it with his other shoulder.
He pushed the door back in so the men could escape but in doing so damaged his shoulders which were ‘‘still sore’’ to this day.
‘‘The thing is, when you’re in action you don’t stop to weigh the pros and cons.’’
If he had not helped the men the Germans would have kept shelling the building until it was blown up.
He did not know why he had lived so long but had some health issues in the past five years which was why he was not that impressed with turning 100, he said.
Mr Heslip grew up in East Gore in a family of 11.
After the war he farmed at Morton Mains before retiring to Invercargill.
About three years ago he moved back to Gore to live in the Windsor Park Care Home.
The youngest member of the family, Bruce Heslip, is about 13 years younger than the centenarian.
Bruce Heslip said when he was a boy his brother and another brother Joe were fond of the bagpipes and were learning to play.
‘‘I could go to sleep with them playing.’’
After the ill health, the family were pleased to celebrate the milestone, he said.
‘‘We never thought he’d make it.’’
His brother had been widowed twice, he said.
‘‘He’s loved family and loved kids but never had any of his own.’’