Veteran Alf Carpenter marches past 105th birthday, bound for Anzac Day

"I'll get up as usual," Mr Carpenter said, flashing that cheeky kid's smile of his.

"How did I get that bloody old?!"

Instead, Mr Carpenter views his special day as Monday. Anzac Day.

The World War Two veteran will be heading to Sydney to participate in the march through the heart of the city.

According to RSL NSW, Alf Carpenter is believed to be the oldest veteran participating in the Sydney Anzac Day march.

Alf Carpenter served in the 2/4th Australian Infantry Battalion and saw action around the Mediterranean and New Guinea.

Eight decades on, the centenarian will join his former brothers in arms for a wreath-laying ceremony at the cenotaph in Martin Place then march with them.

"All my mates who are left will be marching," he said.

"It's wonderful. The waves and the acknowledgement of the people when you're going past is really magnificent.

"They seem to enhance the reputation that you're held in, in so much as they recognise you as an Australian soldier."

Alf Carpenter has been a member of the Merewether-Hamilton-Adamstown RSL sub-branch for 58 years.

For many years, he has made the pilgrimage south each Anzac Day. He enjoys participating in the Sydney march, as it is televised. When asked if he liked being on TV, he replied, "Yeah! Absolutely."

Getting Alf Carpenter to Sydney this year is almost a military operation in itself.

On Monday, there will be no sleeping in for Mr Carpenter at the Maroba aged care facility at Waratah.

Maroba's Director of Care, Linda Winn, said Mr Carpenter would be out of bed at 4am and on the road shortly after in a hire car, provided by his RSL sub-branch. He will be accompanied by a registered nurse, with a medical bag specially packed.

Mrs Winn has also organised a Jeep to transport Mr Carpenter during the march.

"I want him in the Jeep," said the Director of Care.

"That's okay," replied Mr Carpenter. "I'll get out of the Jeep just before the saluting base and take the troops through the saluting base."

Asked why he would not stay in the Jeep, the veteran replied, "Because I'd sooner march."

Not that Linda Winn is surprised. At the previous march, Alf Carpenter left his wheelchair and marched past the saluting dais.

Linda Winn, who was a reservist in the Royal Australian Air Force, serving as a nurse, said all the effort to get Mr Carpenter to Sydney was worth it.

"I know what it means to these guys to represent your colleagues, and to be there and catch up with colleagues you haven't seen for a long time," she said.

As well as having his medals close to his heart, Alf Carpenter will be wearing a poppy hand-knitted by a fellow Maroba resident, Gloria Pattison.

When Maroba went into lockdown earlier this year, due to a COVID outbreak, a number of the residents used the time to make poppies - about 1500 of them - for display at the facility's own Anzac Day service.

Gloria Pattison knitted about 200 poppies.

"There's been a lot of work and sleepless nights," Mrs Pattison said.

As Gloria Pattison carefully arranged the knitted poppy in Mr Carpenter's lapel, the wearer expressed his approval of her creation.

"I think it's bloody beautiful, love!"

RSL NSW President Ray James said he looked forward to greeting Alf Carpenter in Sydney at the march.

"The Anzac Spirit is still burning inside of Alf, and I am proud to march alongside him this Anzac Day," he said.

"But for the service and sacrifice of Alf and thousands of other men and women who served in our armed forces, and those of the Allied forces, the Australian people would not have been protected from the battles of World War Two reaching our shores."

Phil Winney, the president of Mr Carpenter's RSL sub-branch, said it was "beyond belief" the 105-year-old was heading to Sydney for Anzac Day but was very proud of him.

"He's what Anzac Day is all about," Mr Winney said.

Before then, Alf Carpenter has a birthday party to attend. Linda Winn said "the pretty special occasion" would be celebrated with a morning tea. Never mind a cake, Mr Carpenter is hoping for congratulatory kisses from his female neighbours.

"You've got an early kiss for your birthday!," said Mrs Pattison after Mr Carpenter gave her a peck.

"Don't tell everyone, or they'll all want one!," the cheeky birthday boy replied.

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