Whitegate RAF veteran and nuclear research scientist turns 100

Maurice Everett turns 100 on Friday, July 19, and as a lifelong gourmet and wine connoisseur, the sauvignon blanc will flow as he celebrates with family members in the idyllic cottage which has been his home for more than 40 years.   

As a teenager, he was inspired to join the RAF after watching German planes jettison bombs on his home city of Leicester as they made for home after the notorious bombardment of Coventry in November 1940.

“A terrible sight, and one I’ll never forget,” he said.

“It was real spur for me to do my bit when I was old enough. I started getting fit that very day.”

He joined up a year later, aged just 17, and trained as a radio operator, aided by a passion for science which he's nurtured since he was a child. 

A selection of wartime photos Maurice has on display on the wall of his Whitegate kitchen (Image: Supplied)

“I never enjoyed playing in the street like other children,” he said.

“You'd be much more likely to find me with my head stuck in some kind of science book.”

After demob, Maurice won a place at the prestigious Imperial College London, where he took a degree in geology, followed by a career in nuclear energy research, which was then booming. 

Maurice Everett and his first wife Jane on the wedding day (Image: Supplied)

He travelled to scores of countries throughout his 40-year career, sharing the UK’s world-leading expertise in nuclear engineering with counterparts all around the world.

Aside from work, Maurice married his first wife, Jane, in 1949, and the couple had two children together, Margaret and Helen. 

Sadly, he was widowed in 1980, but married his second wife, Chris, in 1982, who he still cared for at home until just last year. 

Maurice looking dapper in his RAF uniform (Image: Supplied)

His retirement has been just as interesting as his working life: he served as chairman of the distinguished Tatton Garden Society several times, as well as opening his incredible Whitegate cottage garden to the public for more than 30 years running.

He and Chris travelled far and wide in retirement, visiting far-flung countries including China, New Zealand, Australia, and South America.  

Maurice in his garden the week before his 100th birthday (Image: Supplied)

A keen golfer, he also served a term as captain of Sandiway Golf Club in 2003. 

Asked what it's like to still have her dad fit and well at 100, daughter Margaret said: “It’s absolutely amazing.

"He’s such a remarkable man who’s done so much, seen so much, and contributed so much.

“I believe the world’s a better place because he’s still here.”