WW2 hero pilot is still doing his own shopping at 105

Fred survived Nazi camp ordeal

A WORLD War Two pilot who survived a Nazi concentration camp has celebrated his 105th birthday.

Fred Vinecombe was captured after being shot down over France in 1944 and taken to Buchenwald Concentration Camp as a prisoner-of-war.

When the Warrant Officer was finally liberated he weighed just six stone and could not be recognised by his family when he returned to England.

Fred, who still goes on weekly shopping trips to the supermarket, has all of his own teeth and is not on any medication. He puts his longevity down to a healthy diet and active lifestyle.

He celebrated his birthday on December 16 at an assisted living facility in Plymouth, Devon.

Daughter Denise Williams, 67, said: “He is just incredible for his age – he’s in very good health. Sometimes he’ll say have you got your car outside and he’ll say how about a trip, why don’t we go to the supermarket? He’s always up for that.”

Fred, born in 1914, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a flight sergeant, flying dangerous missions in Germany just ahead of the famous Dambusters’ 1943 strike. He was in the crew of Lancaster KB727, which was shot down on July, 5, 1944. Fred and his colleagues were first held in the overcrowded Fresnes Prison where torture and executions took place, before being sent to Buchenwald. Daughter Denise added: “He’s never wanted people to know too much that had gone on but as he’s got older, he’s quite enjoying it. He’s able to talk back.”

Fred said after the war his job as a tax collector kept him active, adding: “I kept out of trouble. I was doing a collection job, I worked until I was 80.”

And referring to his healthy diet, he recalled: “We always had green stuff, the food was really good, nothing halfcooked. My wife didn’t seem to fry much, we had a good roast Sundays, and Mondays we had a nice dinner.”

INCREDIBLE Fred’s fit and healthy. Inset, in his uniform