A 102-year-old World War Two veteran has described the conflict as a total waste of flipping time’ – after one of her fellow heroes said their sacrifices were not ‘worth it’ and the country has ‘definitely gone to the dogs’.
Robbie Hall, 102, christened as Queenie, served in Bomber Command during the Second World War – with fiancé Frank Vincent dying when his Royal Lancaster bomber went down in Germany in 1944.
Remembrance commemorations have been held this week, marking 85 years since the end of the First World War and also honouring casualties of other battles.
But Mrs Hall, who attended a Downing Street event earlier this month, has shared with the Daily Mail her despair at ongoing battles – including in Ukraine and Gaza.
A fellow veteran, 100-year-old D-Day hero Alec Penstone, earlier this month spoke about Britain having gone ‘to wrack and ruin’.
And a new poll suggested eight in 10 Britons feel the nation is divided.
Queenie now feels despair at continuing conflicts and how political leaders today have not ‘learnt any lessons’ from the First and Second World Wars.
When recalling the Second World War this week, she told the Daily Mail: ‘All I can say is, the war in my opinion was a total waste of flipping time.’
Robbie Hall, 102, christened as Queenie, served in Bomber Command during World War Two
She has pad visits to European cemeteries with the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans
Nodding to the continuing warfare in Ukraine and in Gaza, she added: ‘We’ve got two big conflicts going on – it’s getting to be a very dangerous world.
‘I’m 102, I’ll be 103 in a few months’ time – I’ve got through five monarchies – I just don’t understand why someone always wants what someone else has got.
‘And these are young men giving their lives – it’s such a waste.
‘My father was in the First World War, at the Somme. He was lucky to survive.
‘My sister’s husband was captured by the Japanese. He came back a broken man.’
She was recently welcomed at 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, at an event on November 3, and described him as ‘nice’.
She said: ‘I don’t agree with politics at the moment – I don’t want to argue about politics.
‘I found him a very nice man – whether or not I agree with his politics is neither here nor there.’
WWII veteran Queenie Hall has described the war as ‘a total waste of flipping time’
Mrs Hall said they spent about 10 to 15 minutes chatting, with Sir Keir pointing out two chairs on which Sir Winston Churchill and King George VI would sit.
That was, she said, a surprising example of the monarch visiting the Prime Minister for their weekly chat rather than the other way around.
Yet she was dubious about the furniture itself, saying: ‘He showed us Winston Churchill’s chair. Well, I didn’t think much of that – I wouldn’t give it house room.’
In September she went on a visit to the Netherlands, as part of her regular trips supporting the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans.
Her taxi driver offered up that, since they were close to the border, he could happily take her to see Frank’s grave for the first time – and she was surprised and moved to see it mentioned her name ‘Queenie’.
The tombstone in Rheinberg War Cemetery, in north-western Germany, reads: ‘To our darling Frank. Treasured memories. Mum, Dad, Sister, and Queenie.’
She described the moment of finally seeing his resting place as ‘like receiving a gift I have waited 81 years to receive’.
Queenie still lives in Stowmarket in Suffolk, just a few miles from where she was born and brought up.
Queenie still lives in Stowmarket in Suffolk, just a few miles from where she was brought up
She had lied about her age to join the WAAF despite being just 17 – and went on to help plan the Bomber Command raids on Germany headed by Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris.
Her recent overseas visit to the Netherlands – and then across the border to the German cemetery – was to join fellow veterans at the Airborne Wandeltocht, a 78th annual march commemorating those lost in the Battle of Arnhem.
Her taxi trip to Rheinberg came courtesy of an offer by driver Dean Euesden, who told her: ‘I’ll do it.’
Queenie told the Daily Mail: ‘I have to say, I broke down when I saw my name – I didn’t realise it was there.
‘All these young men were buried there – they were in their prime.
‘It was a wonderful experience, to be there, but also traumatic for me.’
She had been part of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in the 1940s, while her fiancé trained to be a Flight Sergeant – with the pair getting engaged when both were 18.
But he died aged 21 just two months before their planned wedding, when his aircraft blew up during his 23rd mission, in August 1944, killing him and six crew members.
Queenie Hall (left) and Dorothea Barron stand in front of Spitfire ahead of taking a flight organised by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans to mark their 100th birthdays in 2024
She said of her five years with Bomber Command: ‘Some of my work was secret. Everyone was patriotic in those days – fighting for your country, fighting for what you considered was right.’
And she drew parallels with Hamas’s October 7 2023 terror attacks on Israel and the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s Russia in February 2022.
Queenie said: ‘War is always somebody wanting what someone else has got, something that doesn’t belong to them.
‘It’s like children, really – taking someone else’s teddy. And yet young men are sacrificed, putting their lives on the line, but for what?
‘It just goes on and on – we’ve got those two conflicts going on now. It’s become a very, very dangerous world.
‘If only leaders would think about what people went through in the two world wars – we need a real change of mindset.
‘The people in Ukraine should be able to enjoy their freedom, but why should Russia claim it? It’s not theirs.
‘As for Gaza – we know jolly well Israelis will fight for their country, they’ll fight for the last man and why not?
‘The people who captured Israelis [on October 7 2023] are the cause of the war. And for what? I don’t know.’
Ongoing conflicts have also been condemned by fellow veteran Paul Terry, 100, originally from Wolverhampton and now living in Pevensey Bay, near Eastbourne in East Sussex.
He has been a carer for his 87-year-old wife Dorothy, who has Alzheimer’s, for the past nine years.
He was one of three brothers who served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, landed in Normandy after D-Day and moved through France, Belgium and the Netherlands including serving at the Battle of Arnhem.
After being medically discharged after a mortar shell injured, he later rejoined the military as a reserve and took part at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
He participated in remembrance events this week having only just been discharged after two weeks in hospital.
Mr Terry told of having misjudged the pedals on the BMV Series 3 convertible he still proudly drives, colliding with a barrier actually coming out of Eastbourne General Hospital’s car park after visiting his wife on a ward.
He was full of praise for those treating him, saying: ‘People go on about foreigners in hospitals – I couldn’t fault them in any way.
Ongoing conflicts have also been condemned by fellow veteran Paul Terry, 100, originally from Wolverhampton and now living in Pevensey Bay, near Eastbourne in East Sussex
Paul Terry was one of three brothers who served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, landed in Normandy after D-Day and moved through France, Belgium and the Netherlands
‘It was the most loving care I could hope for. If all people were like they are in hospitals, we wouldn’t have all this hatred and racism you see elsewhere.’
But he did express pessimism for the state of the world, amid such battles as those in Ukraine and in the Middle East.
Mr Terry said: ‘I don’t like to generalise but it seems rather frightening especially for youngsters these days – but I wouldn’t them to go through the wars we did.
‘You’ve got these idiots that think they’re going to take over the world – Putin.
‘He’s going to die some time, isn’t he? The sooner, the better. But whatever he’s got, he can’t take it with him – so what’s the point of all this?’
Meanwhile, Mr Terry has carers coming in to support him and his wife, but insisted: ‘I’ve never liked sitting about. I’m always on the move. If I can do it, I will do it.’
The reflections from Ms Hall and Mr Terry, both allied with the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, come after fellow veteran, 100-year-old D-Day hero Alec Penstone, spoke about Britain having gone ‘to wrack and ruin’.
He stunned ITV’s Good Morning Britain presenters Susanna Reid and Adil Ray by saying on air that the sacrifice of the lost men of his generation ‘wasn’t worth’ what the country has become.
Alec Penstone, 100, pictured with his medals, said the UK has gone to ‘wrack and ruin’
Alec, pictured aged 20 in 1945, said he was anguished by what he sees as Britain’s decline
Alec is pictured with his late wife Gladys on their 70th wedding anniversary in 2015
The grandfather of two added: ‘What we fought for was our freedom, but now it’s a darn sight worse than when I fought for it.’
And he followed up by telling the Daily Mail: ‘It was my own personal opinion but evidently it touched a chord with very many people. My daughter has had so many messages from all over the world.
‘I don’t know what the hell we fought for and [why we] lost so many wonderful men. The country has gone to wrack and ruins.
‘There are too many people with their fingers in the till. Faith in our country was the best thing [when he was young].
‘But nowadays there’s too many people that just want their own little corner and bugger everybody else.’
Rather than his anguish being fuelled by any kind of hostility, Mr Penstone stressed: ‘I’m not against foreigners coming into the country provided they behave themselves.’
His fears for the state of the country echo a study this month finding eight in 10 Britons feel the nation is divided – up five percentage points from two years ago and 10 per cent since 2020.
The poll, by researchers at King’s College London and Ipsos Mori, also showed that half of the public feel Britain’s ‘culture’ is changing too fast, up from a third.
Alec (pictured with Rod Stewart) holds a proud record as the country’s oldest poppy seller
One finding was that nostalgia for Britain’s past rose in every single age group, even among 16 to 24-year-olds.
Almost a third of people in that age bracket wanted Britain to return to how it ‘used to be’, up from 16 per cent in 2020.
Asked of his view of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and how he thinks today’s politicians match up to him, Mr Penstone said: ‘I admired him. He was a leader. And he made sure what needed to be done was done.
‘There is no comparison whatsoever to the modern leaders. In this world today it is every man for himself. I’ve got no feelings for any of them.’
Although he is now blind, Alec still lives independently and continues raising money for the Royal British Legion through his selling of poppies.
His beloved wife Gladys died in Marc 2022 aged 96, just months before their 77th wedding anniversary.
After mentioning how her ashes rest on the mantelpiece of his home, Alec told the Mail of his other half: ‘She gets onto me at night-time asking, “When are you coming to join me?” I say, “Not yet love. Sorry.”‘
Revealing the secret to their happy marriage, he adds: ‘We always had an agreement we would never go to sleep on an argument. One or both of us would always eat humble pie.’
But he shared his bleaker feelings to the Mail, following on from that GMB interview that attracted such attention.
Mr Penstone said: ‘My daughter took me over to London to be interviewed.
‘I just can’t understand the attitude of British people. We are definitely divided. No pride in the country anymore. That’s not the way I was brought up.’
Looking back at past PMs, he said: ‘I admired Winston Churhcill. There was no doubt about it, he was a leader – and he made sure what needed to be done was done.
‘There is no comparison whatsoever to the modern leaders. In this world today, it is every man for himself.
‘I’ve got no feelings for any of them. I’m just counting the days until I die.
‘To me, this country this has definitely gone to the dogs by unsuccessful governments.
‘I most fondly remember the people themselves. I’m not against foreigners coming into the country, provided they behave themselves.
‘There is no leaders at all – they are all our for themselves. I feel I can’t do anything about it except by protesting – when I did the interview, I felt I can’t do damn all about it.’
