Tom ton: Maddiston man is 100 years young

A Maddiston man who served as an RAF pilot in the Second World War and as a long standing governor in the Scottish Prison Service marked his 100th birthday with family and friends last week.
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Tom Binnie is a remarkable man – and not just because he reached the century milestone.

The loved ones who gathered at Linlithgow Care Home, in St Ninian’s Road, Linlithgow last week know how special he is – and how close they all came to never existing at all.

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One of 11 children – six boys and five girls – Tom was born on December 6, 1919 and spent his early years in The Loan, before attending Muiravonside Primary School and Maddiston and Redding Secondary School.

Working initially as a gardener, but always looking to better himself, Tom would cycle 12 miles and back to Falkirk to attend night classes in technical drawing and other subjects.

When World War II broke out he served as an RAF flight mechanic, but ended up flying Lancaster bombers and Mosquito fighter bombers after training as a pilot in the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) in South Africa.

It was while sailing to Johannesburg Tom had his first brush with death, his ship narrowly escaping the deadly payload of a German bomber. Tom was so seasick at the time he told his pals he would not have minded if they had been sunk.

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Flying missions near the tail end of the war, including dropping food and essential supplies to allies in the Netherlands, Tom’s second near miss came when a damaged undercarriage forced him to crash land at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. His aircrat was wrecked, but he walked away to fly another day.

Tom’s second career – which lasted 37 years – saw him working in the Scottish Prison Service until his retirement in 1985 when was the first governor of Shotts Prison.

He married Jennie in 1949 and they spent 55 happy years together until her death in 2004. The couple had two daughters, Evelyn (60) and Lorna (62), and their family eventually grew to include grandchildren Katie (30), Regan (30), Adam (28) and Hannah (25) and great grandchildren, twins Connor and Summer (6).

The whole clan – including relations all the way from Australia – were present for Tom’s 100th birthday and he enjoyed every second of it.

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