Britain's oldest man 'nearly didn't come back from Second World War'

During the Second World War, Reg Dean was stationed in Burma in the Far East.

Last year on his 110 birthday he told the Independent that he nearly did not return: "I nearly didn't come back from Burma, I was under shell fire so often.

"The second-in-command of our regiment was a friend and he was in the same trench with me when the shells were coming over. I said, 'What are you going to do when they come here?' He said: 'I'll lay about them with this kukri' – that's a Gurkha knife. Luckily, he didn't have to."