Saundersfoot came together on Saturday to celebrate one of its most remarkable sons, as Duncan Hilling marked his 100th birthday surrounded by more than a hundred friends and family at the village's Regency Hall.

The occasion was everything a centenary deserves - emotional, joyful, and at times quite extraordinary. Family members had travelled from across the UK, as well as from the USA and Greece, to be there. There were speeches, laughter, a towering cake, and music from the Tenby Male Voice Choir of which Duncan is proud to be a part of, serandading him with with songs from the era of his birth, recalling famous names who came into the world alongside him in 1926, including Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe. The afternoon closed with an unexpected but entirely fitting burst of The Turtles' Happy Together, a moment that seemed to capture the spirit of the man himself.

Duncan, who grew up as one of eleven children on a smallholding just outside Saundersfoot, has spent most of his life rooted in Pembrokeshire, and the celebration certainly showed how much he means to it.

A Soldier Who Witnessed History

What sets Duncan apart from almost anyone living today is what he saw as a young man barely out of his teens. Having joined the RAF in 1944, at an age that required a little white lie to get through the door, he was later transferred to the Royal Welch Fusiliers and sent to India, before his regiment moved on to Japan in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Duncan was among the very first British soldiers to enter Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the atomic bombings of August 1945. What he encountered there stayed with him for the rest of his life. Blind survivors being led through the streets. Bodies yet to be cleared. Schools transformed into makeshift hospitals. Wooden houses, once comprising the vast majority of the cityscape, reduced entirely to ash. He witnessed first-hand the scale of destruction, and he has spoken about it over the years with a quiet, measured gravity that only a direct witness can carry.

He came home from Malaya in 1947, and has never stopped being grateful for it.

A Life Well Lived in Pembrokeshire

Back in his home county, Duncan married his childhood sweetheart, Audrey. They were together for over 70 years, a partnership that saw them raise a family, travel the world in their later years, and grow old with the kind of easy companionship that most people only hope for. Audrey too lived a long and joyous life, passing away in 2022 at the age of 97.

Duncan's post-war life was shaped profoundly by his love of horticulture. He spent many years as head gardener at Picton Castle, and went on to serve as Parks and Gardens Superintendent for South Pembrokeshire District Council, retiring in 1991. His connection to the land, to growing things, tending things, watching them thrive, has been as much a part of his identity as anything else.

He is, by all accounts, a man of practical hands and patient character. A carpenter, a cake decorator, a reader of bedtime stories. A father of four, grandfather of six, and great-grandfather of six more.

A Personal Note

I should say, as the writer of this piece, that Duncan is not just a remarkable stranger to me. He is my girlfriend's grandfather, and someone I have had the privilege of getting to know over recent years. Spending time with him, you quickly understand why a room full of over a hundred people travelled from across the world to raise a glass to him on Saturday. He is warm, sharp, funny, and carries the weight of an extraordinary life with a lightness that is genuinely humbling.

My son, Theodore Duncan Metcalf, bears Duncan's name as his middle name.

A Century Worth Marking

Saturday's celebration, warm, packed, and full of song, was a reflection of a life that has touched an enormous number of people across a very long time. Duncan, who has recently battled through a broken hip - although you wouldn't have known it as he stood up to cook the cake - took it all in with characteristic good cheer.

Happy birthday, Duncan.

Photo Gallery (click to view in full)