A Forfar woman who worked as an aircraft predictor during the Second World War celebrated her 100th birthday on Christmas Day.
Jessie Simpson marked the special occasion with her daughter who is also called Jessie, 75, and her two sons Henry (named after his father), 73, and Douglas, 60.
Henry jnr’s wife Sylvia Simpson, her children Ritchie and Gillian Bruce and grandchild Alyssia Bruce also joined the celebrations.
The family went out for their Christmas lunch, then enjoyed cake together at Jessie’s home in Springfield, Forfar.
Sylvia said: “We wanted to do something special for her birthday to create a memory for her and for us.
“Not many people make it to their 100th birthday and even less have it on Christmas Day.
“She’s done a lot for her children and for me over the years and this is a one off birthday.”
Born in Dundee
Jessie was born in Tay Street Lane, in the centre of Dundee, and took up a job as a junior typist in Aberdeen as a youngster.
She made friends with another young woman through her work, a cousin of Henry snr who would become Jessie’s husband.
Aberdeen-born Henry worked as a ploughman on the railways at the time and when war broke out he was posted to France and Belgium with the Gordon Highlanders.
In 1941 Henry was posted to Singapore where he was captured by Japanese soldiers and held as a prisoner of war for three and a half years and forced to work on the Burma Railway.
Back at home, Jessie signed up to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1943 – a voluntary Army service for women, similar to the TA – and received her basic training at Dalkeith.
She worked as an aircraft predictor, advising the gun shooter where to fire until around 1944 when the role was replaced by a radar.
Jessie then continued as a typist and secretary for the ATS until the end of the war and when Henry returned home he began working on farms as a cattleman.
The couple’s first child Jessie jnr was born in 1947 in Aberdeen, followed by Henry jnr, and the family had moved to Arbroath by the time Douglas was born.
Douglas said: “Dad was into his garden and mum was into painting and embroidering.
“She loved her music, classical music mostly but she loved all music, playing the piano and reading books – she still does that to this day.
“And she loved to sing. My grandmother was a trained singer so she learned a lot from her and played the piano for the Women’s Guild at their parties.”
Jessie still very much enjoys music, reading books, conversation with her family, and “zooming around on her zimmer”, added Sylvia.
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