AN APPEAL for 100 cards to help a former Wren celebrate her 100th birthday at a Dorset care home ended in surprise – with 400 cards falling on the doormat.

Kathleen, who lives at Elizabeth House, in Dolbery Road, Poole, received a whopping 420 cards from residents, businesses, nurseries, holiday clubs and military organisations across the UK and Europe, as well as from as far away as Canada, Hong Kong and Australia.

The cards were sent in response to the care home team’s special request for Kathleen to be surprised with 100 birthday cards in honour of her past military service.

Kathleen surrounded by some of the 400-plus cards she received in Poole

Kathleen joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens) at the age of 18 in June 1944, where she was given the role of a Bomb Range Marker, which involved monitoring targets and charting parachutes from a plane.

On her special birthday, Kathleen was joined by her son, Tim, and their extended family, her friends from Bournemouth Wrens Association, deputy mayor of Poole, Cllr Pete Miles, and the care home team.

Tim said: “It was wonderful to be with mum on her special birthday. She has always had a positive attitude and would never throw anything away, which I guess was in the spirit of wartime.

“She only spoke about the being in the Wrens in her later years, when she told me about the huge part it had played in her life and the many lifelong friendships that had come from it.”

Kathleen was also visited by WO2 John Morrish RM, regional engagement officer SW & CI for the Royal Navy, dressed in full military uniform, who presented her with a letter on behalf of the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff in recognition of Kathleen’s service in the Wrens.

Then, Kathleen blew out the candles on her birthday cake, made by the care home’s chefs, and watched a special performance by the Bovington Military Wives Choir, which rounded off the day of celebrations in style.
Elizabeth House is part of the not-for-profit charity Care South, and provides residential, respite, and dementia care.

Kathleen as a young Wrens recruit

Home manager, Claudia Carvell, said: “It was wonderful to see Kathleen’s huge smile as she looked at the vast number of birthday cards she had received from around the world.

“She is a truly incredible lady who has served her country, so we wanted to make an extra special effort to ensure that Kathleen could enjoy a day full of surprises, which exemplifies Care South’s ethos of Food, Fun and Friendship.”