World War II veteran lauded on 100th birthday
Published:Saturday | February 4, 2023 | 12:10 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
When family and friends came together on January 22 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Jamaican World War II veteran, Gervist Adolphus Neale, not only was he at a loss for words, but he shed tears of joy.
As the adage goes, ‘Once a man, twice a child’, Neale sat child-like and beamed while being pampered with love, affection and words of comfort from loved ones at Curphey Place, located along Swallowfield Road in St Andrew.
Neale, who was born on January 16, 1923, enlisted in 1946 and served in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF) post World War II.
“I’m a hundred years old! I don’t feel different today. I feel just the same today,” he briefly told The Gleaner when asked how it felt to become a centenarian.
Neale, however, wished his life partner, Consuelo Alabarane, were still alive to celebrate with him. Nonetheless, his sister, Edris Bennett, who is also on the brink of celebrating her 100th birthday, sat beside him throughout the celebration.
As a young man, Neale went to England to pursue further studies, and obtained a degree from the London School of Academics???. He also visited Africa as a pan-Africanist. He loved politics, and could not help himself from dabbling in the field. While in England, he was selected three times to represent the British Labour Party.
Serving in the Royal Air Force, Neale recalls experiencing incidents of racism and his daughter, Rosemary Neale Irving, intends to document his experience in a book.
At the birthday celebration, Rosemary paid tribute to him and recalled his outstanding guidance to not only her, but other people with whom he interacted over the years.
“He has done the best he could in spite all the circumstances, and for that I am grateful. I think for his 100 years he has done well. I can say that he could not have done all this by himself. He had help from his life partner of many years, Consuelo Alabarane,” Irving said.
“I hope he will be able to live, not another 100 years, because that’s perhaps impossible,” she said before smiling.
Irving also said it was pleasing to get to know, over the years, the things that were important to her father and the things he enjoyed.
She told The Gleaner that when Neale was a child, one of his teachers wanted to adopt him, given his intellect, but his father would not allow his first son to be adopted.
As a youth, Neale recalled being given numerous responsibilities. He had to wake up from as early as 5 a.m. to take horses to the plantation and supervise the labourers. This distracted him from his lessons, and prompted his teacher’s desire to adopt him.
After being awarded a scholarship to attend Kingston College, Neale packed his bags and headed for the capital city.
“He went to Kingston and from his allowances, he saved up and bought himself a bicycle. Bicycle in those times was equivalent now to a brand new car. Very proud of himself [but] he was devastated when his father said, ‘No, you’re not going back to Kingston with all that traffic. You would be endangered’, so he took away the bicycle, and he was very distressed,” she said.
She said he was a man who believed that the greatest thing is not in falling, but in rising every time you fall.
On Neale’s birthday, Brigadier Markland Lloyd and Major (Ret’d) Joanna Lewin from the Jamaica Defence Force visited with him to celebrate the milestone.
Lewin described him as a courageous man who endured many struggles during his time serving in World War II.
“What they did in those days wasn’t easy. They left the comfort of Jamaica and when they went to the UK, they faced prejudice and they had hardships. They had all sorts of difficulties when they went to serve,” she said.