00:00A 100-year-old Second World War veteran is recalled getting a little bit squiffy as he turned 21 amid VE celebrations on a Navy ship in 1945.
00:11Tom Berry, born and raised in Liverpool, was a teenager when he joined the Royal Navy as a radio operator on the tribal class destroyer HMS Tata.
00:19She became known as the Lucky Tata for her many narrow escapes from danger during the war.
00:23Speaking ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Mr Berry, who now lives in Macclesfield, described celebrating his 21st birthday a day early aboard the vessel, saying the crew got an extra tot of rum.
00:35He said the captain came onto the deck and addressed the crew to let us know that the war was over in Europe.
00:41Because it was my birthday, I got more than most and got a bit squiffy.
00:45VE Day marks the date in 1945 when Germany surrendered to the Allies, ending almost six years of conflict in Europe.
00:52The Royal British Legions brought together Second World War veterans at an anniversary tea party and remembrance service at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire.
01:02Mr Berry, who will celebrate his 101st birthday on Friday, May 9th, said he hopes everyone joins in the spirit of the celebrations the Royal British Legions laying on for the country.
01:12He said he doesn't consider himself a hero, but rather a lucky man on a lucky ship.
01:17HMS Tata was one of only four destroyers to survive the war out of 16 at the start of the conflict.
01:24Mr Berry said one of their closest scrapes happened on D-Day, when the largest amphibious invasion in history began the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation.
01:34The end of the war came for Mr Berry on September 2nd, 1945, when the lucky Tata was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.
