A 100-year-old D-Day veteran has delivered a blistering verdict on what he describes as “broken Britain”, declaring that the country he fought for as a teenager is now barely recognisable. Few embody service and courage the way Royal Navy hero Alec Penstone does — and his raw words have reignited a national debate about honour, sacrifice, and the state of the nation.

Alec, from Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, was just 15 when World War II broke out. Too young to enlist, he promised his father — a wounded World War I survivor — that he would never serve in the trenches. But as soon as he was old enough, he kept his promise to his country instead, signing up to join the fight against Nazi Germany.

Speaking exclusively to the Express on Remembrance Sunday, the centenarian blasted what he believes has become a divided and self-serving Britain.
“There are too many people with their hands in the till, thinking only about what they can take,” he said. “This country is so divided — it just doesn’t seem to be a nice place anymore. And I blame the politicians. None of them seem to have the people’s trust. It’s all self, self, self. What on Earth has happened?”

Alec Penstone

Now a proud and patriotic 100-year-old, Alec was born on April 23, 1925 — St George’s Day — and still flies the flag outside his home daily. “If anyone tries to take it down,” he warned, “they’ll have to get through me first. What’s happening now is beyond all comprehension.”

Too young to enlist when war began in 1939, Alec volunteered as a messenger during the Blitz, pulling bodies from the rubble of bombed buildings in the chaos of wartime London. As soon as he came of age, he left his factory job to serve at sea.

As an Able Seaman, he served aboard HMS Campania, an escort aircraft carrier defending Allied invasion forces from German U-boats. During the D-Day landings, Alec was stationed three decks below, on constant watch for torpedoes, mines, and submarine threats.
Later, he braved the infamous Arctic convoys, undertaking ten perilous crossings to deliver essential supplies to northern Soviet ports — missions so dangerous they became known as “suicide runs.”

Alec met his future wife, Gladys, on Christmas Eve in 1943 while home on leave. They married in July 1945 — but just two days later, duty called him back to sea. He served for another 14 months before finally being demobilised in September 1946.
The couple remained inseparable for 77 years until Gladys passed away in 2022.

Her ashes now rest on Alec’s mantelpiece. He says she still “visits” him every night.
“She tells me to join her soon,” he said quietly. “She asks, ‘When are you coming?’ And I say, ‘Not yet, love… but I won’t be long.’”

Alec’s father — Alec Sr. — served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment. He was critically wounded and left for dead at the Battle of the Somme, surviving but permanently crippled. He died when Alec was 40.

For his bravery on D-Day, Alec was awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest national order of merit. Each year, he returns to Normandy with the Spirit of Normandy Trust to honour the friends he lost — and to salute the rows of white gravestones that mark the sacrifice of so many.

“Around 384,000 British servicemen died in the war,” he reflected. “Those names carved on the memorial — they’re not just names. They’re real people. We can still picture their faces. Some of them… we can still hear their voices.”

Standing at the British Normandy Memorial overlooking Gold Beach — where the 50th Northumbrian Division stormed ashore on D-Day — Alec said the memories hit hardest.
“I see those graves. I see my friends who gave everything. For what? The country of today? I’m sorry, but the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result of what it is now.”

“I’m not a hero,” he insisted. “I never was. I was just lucky. The heroes are the ones who never returned.”

He worries younger generations no longer understand the price of freedom.
“They were never taught,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important we tell them what happened — and why.”

With quiet resolve, he added:
“Bravery? We just did our jobs. I’ve always said I’m not a hero. I’m simply one very lucky person.”