A STRICT military family upbringing is what Ena Buckland believes is the key to her long life – and it certainly appears to have worked as she celebrated her 100th birthday.

The Netley Abbey resident marked the milestone with a large cake and a party for family and neighbours.

Born in Egypt as her father was in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Ena came to the UK when a few months old.

The family moved to Southampton when Ena was 15 and she has lived in and around the city ever since.

The grandmother-of-four and great-grandmother-of-seven met her husband Kennard, who served in the Hampshire Regiment at D-Day, at a family gathering. They married in 1939 and had two children.

Kennard later worked as a printer for Joseph Caustons in Eastleigh. He passed away in 2004, only weeks before their 65th wedding anniversary.

Daughter Lyn Kelly, 67, of Netley Abbey, said: “She’s always been a very caring mum, she still is – she still thinks mum knows best, even at my age I get told off.”