A 104-year-old Royal Navy veteran has shared his life story as he looks forward to celebrating the third Coronation in his lifetime.
Captain Bryan Butchard, of Amesbury, has been alive during the reign of five monarchs and thinks fondly of the Royals.
Witnessing King George V laying in state, followed by his funeral in 1936, as well as Queen Elizabeth II's coronation procession on Oxford Street, Cpt Butchard is no stranger to royal occasions.
Joining the Royal Navy College in Dartmouth when he was just 13 years old, Capt Butchard worked his way up through the Navy to become second-in-command of HMS Magpie.
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His duties involved defending merchant convoys and destroying any German U-boat submarines that threatened them during World War II.
Key moments in Cpt Butchard's life have been documented in a centenary tribute created by his son.
On one occasion, in February 1944, Cpt Butchard captured U-boat commander Hartwig Looks and sparked up a friendship that survived the war.
He retired in 1989, aged 70, and lived in the village of Wylye for 42 years.
Years later, Mr Looks came to visit Cpt Butchard and joined him for lunch at his local pub 'The Bell' in July 2000.
Nowadays he enjoys reading newspapers and walking down to the river at the beautiful Amesbury Abbey Nursing Home, which was ranked one of the top 20 care home groups in the UK.
Remarkably, the only medical problems Cpt Butchard deals with are deafness from being exposed to gunfire and slight blindness in one eye.
When asked how he has lived to an impressive 104, he said: “How that’s possible? I don’t know, but I have no illnesses, no aches or pains and everything functions. I’m extremely fortunate.”
Family life
Cpt Butchard’s marriage story is “rather unusual” and begins with a friendship he made with First Lieutenant Nigel Thurston of a Destroyer battleship he was on during World War One.
Years later, in 1940, Mr Thurston left to navigate several small boats in the English Channel.
In the same year, Cpt Butchard found out that he had been appointed Godfather of one of Mr Thurston’s twins, but also that he had died in service.
This is when a relationship sparked with widow Patricia Tonks who Cpt Butchard would go on to marry in 1944 and have one son with.
The pair were married for 65 years but she sadly died 13 years ago.
Royal celebrations
Cpt Butchard will be viewing King Charles III's Coronation on a big screen inside a marquee on the Abbey Lawn with other residents.
Looking forward to the event, Cpt Butchard said: "It's going to be a splendid two days."
He thinks His Majesty has made a "wonderful start", adding: "He looks good, he has got a presence, speaks well and has a vast amount of knowledge. It is going to be a wonderful reign I’m sure."
For more information about Amesbury Abbey Care Home, visit amesburyabbey.com.
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