Sto lat - and Nasdrowja!

(You mean there's an older Gnome than you? Good Lord!)

My father-in-law had a similar early life - born in what was Poland in 1919 but became Russian in the 1920s - he left Poland in 1939 with his grandfather's old Mauser pistol a little money and his passport, making his way by various routes to North Africa. Here he was flown to Scotland to join the Polish Airforce. He served as a rear gunner and bomb aimer in bombers in North Africa and over Germany. Came out in '45 and spent 2 years with TB in a sanatorium in the Lake District. Worked hard all his life as a turner and miller, making precise parts for aero engines. Retired at 65 - dead of Alzheimers just a few short years later.

He was a good and sincere man - a devout Catholic - and came from a generation of tough, determined Poles who fought hard and worked hard. I drink to him to your Dad, and to others of his generation.