First time in a Fire Engine for Ilkeston man at 106

When officials from Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service found out that a 106-year-old decorated war veteran had only two things in his varied life that he hadn't achieved, they wanted to help him chalk one of them off.

Donald is a resident at Canal Vue Care Home in Ilkeston and whilst he lives a restful life there, flying a plane and being driven around in a fire engine have been two things he still yearns to do.

So, on Thursday 3rd June at 10:30am, a crew will be collecting centenarian Donald Rose in one of their fire engines before taking him for a trip to their Joint Training Centre to see some of the trainee firefighters in action and one of the crew will be carrying a film camera to capture every single moment. 

It is anticipated that Donald, accompanied by one of his carers, will not only be given the chance to see, at first hand, the training that Firefighters undertake, but that he will also have a chance to try some fire kit on himself!

We hope to have more on this story soon, but in the meantime, here are some facts about this remarkable local man:

More about Donald: 

• At age 23 Donald joined the army as a front-line soldier in the 7th Armoured Division, and soon progressed to become a sniper
• He served in: North Africa, Italy, France, Normandy, Belgium, Holland, and Germany
• Highly decorated for his service, Donald has received a number of medals, including the Legion of Honour – the highest level of honour in France
• In his younger years, Donald was a handy man fixing and building everything
• Donald has also done a lot of driving in his life from cars to lorries and has a love of classic motorbikes.