A World War Two naval veteran and former Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police has celebrated his 100th birthday at a Dorset care home.
Ronald ‘Ron’ Burnhams was the centre of attention among family, friends and fellow residents at a party at Colten Care’s Whitecliffe House in Blandford.
His daughters Scarlet and Melanie prepared a special picnic lunch which was followed by a Victoria sponge birthday cake, as he requested, baked by chefs at the home.
Ron was born in September 1925 in military barracks in Canterbury where his father was stationed as a soldier in the Queen’s Hussars.
From the age of two until he was seven, Ron lived with the family in India and the Far East before they returned to England and settled in the Essex town of Halstead.
After leaving Halstead Council Senior School where he had become a house captain, Ron worked at a local foundry and later with an airfield construction company.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1943, serving as a lead signalman in cruise squadrons mainly in the Far East.
On leaving the navy, he began his police career as a bobby on the beat in Leyton, London, in 1950.
Living in Ilford to the east of London with wife Gladys and the two daughters, the young Constable rose swiftly through the ranks, with promotions as Sergeant, Station Sergeant, Inspector, Superintendent and finally Chief Superintendent.
During his Superintendent years, Ron achieved widespread media coverage when, following doctors’ advice after a knee operation, he swapped his Panda car for a push bike to make his daily 5km patrol of the Met Police sub-division of Limehouse in London’s docklands. He said the exercise certainly helped to strengthen his leg again.
Ron was the first senior police officer at the scene of the Dudgeon’s Wharf fire on the Isle of Dogs in July 1969. When an oil storage tank exploded, the blast killed five firemen and a construction worker. It was the largest loss of life in the UK fire service caused by a single incident since World War II.
Away from frontline policing, Ron formed the Met’s tug o’ war club in 1965 and rekindled his vocal talents from boyhood church choir days to sing baritone in the force’s male voice choir. He and fellow officers took part in charity shows throughout London including an annual concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
Ron’s hobbies have included sea angling, a sport he first started by shark fishing off the Australian coast during his navy service.
In his first year at Whitecliffe House, 2022, Ron showed off his acting abilities by playing Professor Henry Higgins in the home’s production of the musical My Fair Lady.
He was one of six performers who dressed up in Edwardian-style hats and wowed the audience with fellow residents, visiting families and staff all praising the show.
Asked for his thoughts on reaching 100 and what his earliest memory is, Ron said: “I feel happy to have made it to 100. Thinking back to childhood, the earliest thing I can remember is seeing a beautiful girl who I dearly wanted to get to know and have as my own. Later, she was to become my wife.”
Whitecliffe House Home Manager Emma Williams said: “We were proud to help Ron and his family and friends celebrate his 100th birthday. It was lovely to hear him give a speech to thank everyone for coming and he was grateful for the event.”
