WW2 veteran and newspaper journalist turns 104

A World War Two veteran who became a well-known local newspaper journalist has celebrated her 104th birthday.

Meg Sewell was born in Rotherham in 1922 and has lived in the town her whole life.

She served with the women's branch of the Army during the war years, rising to the rank of sergeant, and then ran the women's page of the Rotherham Advertiser.

She said the secret to her long life was "moderation and being active".

Meg was 20 when she was called up to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and was posted to Cheshire. She opted for the armed forces rather than agricultural or munitions work.

All unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 30 were expected to undertake National Service after new laws were passed in 1941.

She recalled: "I'd never been away from home before and everything was new, meeting all these people, the uniform and inoculations, but I was proud to serve my country - and I made wonderful friends."

She was assigned to work at the Army Post Office, and later promoted to sergeant, which she said meant "we didn't have to make our own bed any more".

"It was very important to the forces to keep the mail going, we had to sign a form of secrecy because we knew where all the soldiers were stationed, and when we got the volumes out to look where they were, we had to lock them away when we went for a coffee."

Until recently, she would give talks to local schoolchildren about her wartime experiences.

"One little boy asked me once if I'd met Hitler - I said no!"

She met her future husband, Harold Sewell, who was serving with the RAF, during the war and they married in 1947.

"It just happened, things were different then."

They returned to Rotherham and both joined the newspaper. Meg, writing under her maiden name of Mumford, was initially a reporter covering the Rawmarsh and Parkgate beat before she started the women's section in the 1960s. Her husband covered local sport.

She was expected to have good contacts among organisations such as the Women's Institute (WI), and was regularly invited to dinners and events. She was a WI member herself for 40 years.

She and Harold had two children together.

She was nominated for an MBE for her services to the WI, and received the honour from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2015.

"We had quite a chat, she was so tiny, so gentle, lovely to talk to - it was a wonderful experience."

She said celebrating her recent milestone at the Moor Croft Care Village "seemed like any other birthday, really".

But after 104 years, if she could go back and do it all again, would she do anything differently?

"I don't think so, I've had a very good life."

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