A blind war veteran from Kensington has met Dame Barbara Windsor.
Garry Daintry was at a Christmas lunch event put on by the Blind Veterans UK charity and attended by the Carry on and EastEnders actress .
He joined the Irish Guards in January 1957 and became a helicopter pilot, serving in many locations around the world including Cyprus, Germany, Aden, Singapore, Borneo, Malaysia and Hong Kong, until discharge in September 1971.
He later joined the Army Air Corps (TA) as a pilot, serving for five years from 1983.
The 78-year-old attended the event on Monday (December 12) with his carer Marietta Seecharan, known as May.
He said: “May and I very much enjoyed the very fine Christmas lunch put on by Blind Veterans UK.
"It was good to see many familiar faces and to meet new ones.
"Carry on Christmasing as Barbara Windsor might say.”
The lunch also marked the first piece of research into veterans’ social isolation conducted by the charity.
Dame Barbara said: “I want to make sure that Blind Veterans UK are reaching as many veterans as possible.
“No one who has served our country should have to battle sight loss alone, and no one should feel isolated or lonely as a consequence of sight loss.
“If you, or anyone you know, previously Served in the Armed Forces , or did National Service and now suffers with severe sight loss, please encourage them to get in touch.”
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