A D-DAY veteran and published poet who has lived in Southampton most of his life has celebrated turning 100.

Captain Dennis B. Wilson was born in Thame, Oxfordshire in 1921 and after a short spell living in Colbury, moved to Southampton in 1927.

In 1941, a near miss with a bomb rendered the house uninhabitable and they moved to Chandler’s Ford before Dennis left to join the army.

Whilst in the army, he made use of the Field Service Pocket Book, writing down his experiences and thoughts which he would later have published as a collection of poems.

Having written some of his works in the slit trenches of Normandy after D-day, Captain Wilson was wounded when two shells exploded close to him on July 1, 1944.

Daily Echo: Captain Dennis B. Wilson.Captain Dennis B. Wilson.

After continuing his writing in hospital, he left the army in 1947, embarking on a 48-year-career with Encyclopaedia Britannica International Limited, moving back to Southampton in 1955.

At the age of 91, his poetry about the war was published and now with five books of poetry under his belt, he said: “I hope I’m sharing [my experiences] with a lot of people”.

On June 25, the lifelong Saints fan from Portswood celebrated his 100th birthday with a party in a friends garden and speaking about the day, he said: “We had a lovely party.” and added “I don’t feel any different.”

The get together was organised by his friends that he had made at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

Although they were limited in terms of numbers, Dennis’ daughter, Patricia said it was “very special”.

Daily Echo: Dennis Wilson holding one of his published books of poetry, Elegy of a Common Soldier.Dennis Wilson holding one of his published books of poetry, Elegy of a Common Soldier.

She added: “I think he’s amazing. In April he had a fall and ended up in hospital, but that was the first time he’d been in hospital since D-day.

“He’s had a very interesting life. The fact that he’s got so many friends of different ages, is a testament to him.”

Captain Wilson has two children and two grandchildren and in 2013, met the Queen and Prince Philip at an evening to celebrate poetry.

In 2015 he was made a Fellow of Southampton University and in 2018 it was discovered that he had four half brothers and that his father, Alexander Wilson, spy and novelist, had bigamously married three other women.

This story became the three part BBC Drama ‘Mrs Wilson’’ and was told in the book ‘The Secret Life of a Secret Agent’.