Tanked-up Eddie sells poppies at gunpoint
Pensioner turns mobility scooter into Second World War tank to raise money for Royal British Legion
A POPPY seller has transformed his mobility scooter into a Second World War tank to sell poppies in memory of his father who died in battle.
Eddie Wadsworth, 85, spent “many hours” creating his own version of an armoured vehicle – complete with tracks, a gun and mini rockets – ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
The grandfather-of-two used disused cardboard boxes and other recycled materials and even added military music to “the tank” as he drives around his home town of Swadlincote, Derbyshire, raising funds for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.
He said: “The reaction to my tank has been incredible. I have been surprised by the number of young people who are interested and have bought poppies and got involved.
“I’m pleased its been able to help people take an interest in Remembrance Sunday.”
Eddie’s father, John, was killed at the age of 34 at the 1944 battle of Anzio, in Italy, and was among more than 40,000 Allied casualties there.
Mr Wadsworth said: “I can vaguely remember my dad. I never had a lot of contact with him because he had been in the army from 1939 ... I was only a toddler when he left.
“I’m really repaying the Royal British Legion in the best ways I can. I remember my mother was in a right state with her losing her husband ... the Legion used to look after the children whose fathers had been killed.
“Every Christmas there used to be a big party and trips out to the seaside and stuff like that. I think there is a bit of that missing now in the Services.” Mr Wadsworth has given the vehicle’s cardboard shell a camouflage paint job and waterproofed it with a plastic covering. “It is a flat pack, basically. It all breaks down to small pieces. I call it my Ikea Tank,” he said.
Lee Sherratt, 36, owner of Forever Mobility in Swadlincote, said the tank was “absolutely marvellous” and took many hours to create. “Eddie spent so much time on it,” he said. “We have saved him good bits of cardboard. The attention to detail is just brilliant, even the doors open. He’s thought of everything ... he takes it so seriously, even down to wearing a helmet.”
Mr Wadsworth will be at local shops and businesses ahead of Remembrance Sunday to raise as much as he can for the Legion. Its Poppy Appeal has 40,000 volunteers distributing more than 40 million paper poppies each year.
“I was thinking this morning, what could I do with it [the tank] when I have finished?” said Mr Wadsworth. “I’ve always got to be doing something.”