South West veteran Stuart Campbell celebrated his 100th birthday on Monday surrounded by family and friends

Most incredible stories start somewhere, and for Bunbury’s Stuart Campbell, his just happened to be in a tent. Celebrating his 100th birthday, Mr Campbell looked back on his past century of life reliving fond memories and telling war stories surrounded by his friends and family. Born in the remote town of Wyalkatchem, Mr Campbell said he spent his youth being a “nuisance” to his mother and working on the farm with his father before joining the armed services at 18 in 1943. “We used to have a wire door and if you ever waked out and left the door open a fly would get into the house,” he said. “My mother would yet come back and shut the door, ‘do you live in a tent?’. “But that’s the thing, I, and my older brother, were both born in a tent — two years later they built the hospital.” When he turned 18, Mr Campbell enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force and looks back fondly on his time with his fellow brothers at arms. Talking of his time in the service, Mr Campbell speaks as if he’s still there in rich detail and some humour. “They should have shot us down before we shot them down,” he joked when talking about a battle over the Pacific. Mr Campbell remained with the military for the remainder of the Second World War leaving on December 7, 1945 at the rank of Warrant Officer. After his time in the service, he moved to the South West to work on the railroad and for the next several years moved across the State along the tracks. Starting in Brunswick, Mr Campbell would eventually become the station master before heading to Southern Cross, Merredin, Mt Barker and Bridgetown and eventually retired in Bunbury. Along the way he met his wife Dorothy at a rowing club dance, and together the pair have six children, 12 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. Mr Campbell said his longevity was all based on good genes with his five siblings all living into their 90s. Celebrating the momentous birthday, Mr Campbell and his family gathered at the Parade Hotel in Bunbury for an enormous celebration. “It was a very good party, I thought.”