WORLD War II veteran Colin (Col) Robertson, a retired printer and resident of Woolgoolga, celebrated his 101st birthday on August 12 with a week of parties with family and friends.
“It was a big week,” Mr Robertson told News Of The Area.
“I had coffee and lunch with so many people, including Probus Club of Coffs City, and the Woolgoolga RSL Club put on a party for me.”
The 101-year-old is a keen walker and book reader.
“I love to walk all over the place, on the flat these days,” he said.
“And I read lots of books, mostly on Australian history.”
Once he’s read the books he takes them to Probus where he leaves them for other members and sometimes does a swap with friends.
Having passed his driving test last month to keep his driver’s licence, he continues to motor around with his wife Pat, to Sawtell, Urunga and up to Armidale.
“Traffic doesn’t bother me, but I won’t be driving to Melbourne or Sydney these days,” Mr Robertson said.
Born in 1925 in Wallacedale, south-western Victoria, his family moved to Melbourne in 1931 where he went to school and later worked in the printing industry as a compositor.
Joining the Army in 1939 he served in 31/51 Australian Infantry Battalion on Bougainville, the northern and central sectors, Nauru and Ocean Island in mid Pacific, Rabaul in New Britain, and several places in Australia.
He was involved with the Japanese breakout at Cowra NSW in August 1944.
Mr Robertson enjoyed the mateship and physical demands he experienced in the Army.
After the war he returned to the printing industry, working at the Army printing works in Melbourne for six years, then the Government printing office in Tasmania.
He enjoyed fishing and built a shack at Arthurs Lake in central Tasmania before having several caravan parks on the north-coast of NSW.
He has been a bushwalker all his life, scuba diver, played football, basketball, cricket, athletics, enjoyed square dancing and travelled through Australia many times.
By Andrea FERRARI
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