Malton World War 2 veteran Raymond Whitwell celebrates 104th birthday

A SECOND World War veteran who took part in the Battle of Arnhem has celebrated his 104th birthday.Raymond Whitwell, who lives in Malton, was born in Rillington, moving to Scampston when he was a year old. He left school at 15 and got a job as an errand boy at G Longster and Sons in Malton.He was called up to the army in September 1939 at the age of 20 and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) before moving to Belgium as the German advance began.Raymond was part of the rearguard to allow the BEF to make for Dunkirk and evacuate to England. He eventually got to the beaches, but the situation was chaotic and hopeless, so decided to try elsewhere.Raymond was left in France after the evacuation of Dunkirk and spent 16 days travelling around, trying to find his way back to England.He had no knowledge of the overall situation and eventually met up with a regular Army officer who was also lost, but could speak French. They arrived at Lille Railway Station, where he found a Dutch fishing boat in the harbour and hitched a ride to Southampton.”Mr Whitwell distinguished career continued with a period serving in North Africa and then the Battle of Arnhem when, he recalls, he and others went for nine days without food.From there he went to Norway to disarm the German garrison, before we came back to England for VE Day and eventually, demob after serving for six years and four months in the Army.Mr Whitwell returned to Malton and opened his own shop in Castlegate as well as running several market stalls until he retired aged 90.He was married to Iris for more than 40 years and the couple had three children, Paul, Tim and Jill, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.