Good brekkie breaks the hundy

Whether it’s poached eggs on toast, or leftover shepherd’s pie, a hearty breakfast could be the recipe to John Beeching ticking for 100 years.

The London-born Nelson resident and war veteran achieves the centurion milestone on 19 October, and quipped that it happened by itself, but believes his breakfast routine propelled him to “staying alive”.

“I always liked to have a good breakfast, we have a poached egg on toast, or porridge, a good hearty meal, but I’ve never been a cornflakes person,” he says.

“I’ve never regretted a day, and most of my memories have been good.”

John, who was born in 1923, says his early years were spent during the Great Depression.

“We didn’t have much, we had nothing like you’ve got today, we didn’t have a car, bikes, barely enough food, very few clothes, so it was fairly feral,” he says.

“Then the war came along, and we were living just outside of the East of London during the bombing blitz in World War II.”

John says he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) before he turned 18 and undertook his training in Canada before conducting flying operations over Germany with the Bomber Command Association.

After departing the RAF in 1946, he returned to Canada where he lived for seven years working on oil rigs, farms and in workshops, before a friend wrote to him about New Zealand’s opportunities.

“I landed on Christmas Day in Auckland [in 1953], the same day as the Queen landed [for her 1953-1954 Royal Tour of New Zealand], and it was the day after the Tangiwai disaster,” he says.

“I lived in Christchurch for five years and worked for a company that made washing machines, and lived in Wellington for about six years, working for the government.

“I was actually transferred to Nelson by the government at my own request [in 1969], best thing I ever did, marvellous place.”

John says he worked mostly as an engineer at Port Nelson before working in maintenance at the Cawthron Institute, where he still works today after 33 years.

He has three adopted children, five grandchildren, and has been married to his second wife, Wendy, for 28 years.

John says Nelson Mayor Nick Smith had visited him to congratulate his 100-year milestone, he had received a congratulations letter from Royal New Zealand Air Force chief, Air Vice-Marshal Darryn Webb, and was awaiting a letter from King Charles III.