Great-grandmother celebrates 101st birthday by driving tank

YEREVAN, AUGUST 6, ARMENPRESS. A feisty great-grandmother who is blind in one eye has celebrated her 101st birthday by driving a tank. Armenpress reports, citing The Telegraph that Hilda Jackson was determined to drive a 100,000 FV432 tank, even for just a few meters, to celebrate her big day.

The former nurse, who has 11 great-grandchildren, finally completed her dream at the Tank School in Usk, South Wales - and celebrated by sipping on a glass of sherry in the cockpit.

Mrs Jackson's 72-year-old daughter Margaret Austin said her mother had wanted to do it for her last few birthdays and would not be deterred by health issues.

Mrs Austin, from Abergavenny, South Wales, said: "Mum was very thrilled about it all. I thought it would be great for mum to get a chance to sit in the tank. But she told me 'I'm not going to go all the way there without going into the cockpit' she's quite feisty.

"Only one person can be in it at a time so once she was in the driver seat she asked how to switch it on. The instructor said that wouldn't be the best idea, but she turned it on anyway. She was surprised and pleased because she was afraid that the noise would be too loud for her."

Mrs Jackson has always been fascinated with driving and even went on a five-month car drive around Europe in the 1950s with her visiting relatives from Australia.

Alastair Scott, owner of the Tank School, at Little Trostrey, near Kemeys, said: "It was a great pleasure and honour to have Hilda visit us last Sunday and get her at the controls of a tank.

"Hilda was by far our eldest tank driver the youngest was nine she won all our hearts and admiration."

And Mrs Jackson's fun knows no bounds, it seems. The elderly daredevil has other plans for her ever-growing wish list, with sky-diving seemingly on the agenda.

Her daughter added: "She noticed they had planes there and then that triggered something in her - she said that she'd love to 'float out of the sky' in one. She has a very active mind."