Joan, aged 105, was the bombproof Wren (From Evesham Journal)

Joan, aged 105, was the bombproof Wren

2:00pm Saturday 20th October 2012 in News By Sarah Taylor

A FEARLESS great-grandmother who narrowly escaped death in a Second World War bombing has celebrated her 105th birthday.

Joan Trench marked her milestone on Tuesday with her family. The resident at Heathlands Care Home in Station Road, Pershore, has lived in the district since 1934 and has many a story to tell of her 105 years.

As part of The Women’s Royal Naval Service – the Wrens – Mrs Trench travelled the UK and to naval bases abroad but was based at HMS Duke, in Malvern – a training establishment that later became the Royal Radar Establishment.

“I have been very lucky in life really given the number of accidents I have had,” she said. “When I was with the Wrens a bomb came flying down and blew everything up right in front of me. I was thrown up into the air and when I woke up I still had my hat on and was wandering around in a daze.”

Even before she joined the Wrens Mrs Trench travelled.

Born and raised in Wolverhampton and one of eight siblings, she moved to Spain for a year where she taught English to two children.

She was a teenager when she met her late husband John, a manager at Barclays bank in Pershore, and the two married in 1934. They went on to have a daughter, Oonagh, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Mrs Trench was the first person to establish Meals on Wheels in Pershore as part of her work with the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service.

When asked about her secret to reaching 105, the birthday girl said: “I have always lived on farms so good farm food and plenty of fresh air.

“I have had a contented life and have enjoyed a happy marriage and having a happy family around me.”