War veteran who was one of the youngest Spitfire training pilots celebrates 100th birthday in Rustington

Peter Moore has lived in the village for almost 30 years and is a former director of the Willowhayne Residents' Association.

He was born on April 10, 1924, in Richmond and grew up in Osterley, then joined the RAF during the Second World War, at the age of 17.

Daughter Stephanie Moore, founder of The Bobby Moore Fund, said: "He told me he wanted to fly on the bombers but he flew Spitfires and was on reconnaissance in Italy. He was 17 when he signed up and was one of the youngest training pilots."

Peter is fond of the poem High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, which gives a vision of what it is like to fly 'high in the sunlit silence' and reminds him of his days as a pilot.

Peter said: "We were doing photographic reconnaissance, so we had no guns. If you saw a German aircraft, you had to fly away."

He served in Brazil and South Africa, then Rhodesia, where, as a young man, he was training other pilots.

Peter said: "The officer said they are sending out children now."

He joined No.683 Squadron, which flew Spitfires for photographic reconnaissance over Sicily from Malta during 1943 before moving to Italy for the rest of the war.

Brian Zeederberg, Stephanie's partner, said: "He is a remarkable man in the Captain Tom mould in that he was a Spitfire pilot in the Second World War and is the perfect English gentleman, typical of that generation, few of which are remaining."

Stephanie said her father refuses to believe he is 100.

"He is an absolutely charming gentleman," she added.

Peter came out of the RAF after the war because 'he had had enough of uniforms' and completed a degree at the London School of Economics before working in insurance at Lloyd's of London. Peter continued to work as a consultant until he was 70.

He and his wife Vera were married in 1948 and they had two children, Stephanie and her brother Nicky. After Vera died in 2000, Peter married his second wife Marcia and she passed away in 2017.

Peter, who has two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, celebrated his birthday at home yesterday with a buffet, which included a cake topped with a Spitfire.