A NARROW escape from death in 1949 did not stop the Reverend John Newton from celebrating his 100th birthday this week.

But he hadn’t fully expected to be receiving his telegram from the Queen this year.

“The last birthday I had was in the hospital, I hadn’t expected any more after that,” he said.

In an extraordinary life that saw Rev Newton travel around the world as a missionary it was Warrington he ended up settling on.

At the tender age of eight at South Street Baptist Church in Exeter he realised he wanted to become a missionary.

He studied at Spurgeon’s College, where during one of it’s sand services on the beach Rev Newton met his wife Marjorie.

Before long he travelled to the Shandung province in China with the Baptist Missionary Church, at first alone, but as war was starting to break out he married his love in 1938.

As war took hold of the country he and Marjorie stayed at the University of Cheloo, where they both worked, with the remainder of the staff and students who stayed behind.

But the Japanese captured them as prisoners of war with 2,000 others and were taken to Shanghai.

There John worked first in the cook house then the school set up for the 300 children imprisoned with them.

Once released after the war they went to the Sian province just as civil war broke out between the communists and nationalists.

“We were asked to leave as the war started,” said Rev Newton, “I took the children and ladies down to where we have our university. On the return journey the truck I was in overturned on the hill.”

Several passengers were killed and Rev Newton was left in a coma for a week after being found robbed with a broken back.

A nurse pumped him full of penicillin while still unconscious. As he recovered he was taken to Chendu, strapped to a deckchair in the back of an open-top Jeep.

In later years he and his family, including his two young sons David and Graham went to Malaya, where he worked for 14 years with Chinese expatriots.

His family then spent some time in Chipping Camden before moving to Warrington where he became the Reverend of Hill Cliffe Baptist Church.

During his time he went on to lead both Latchford Baptist Church and Salem Baptist Church for a time, while waiting for cover.

The celebrations for his birthday ran over a number of days with a special service for him at Hill Cliffe Baptist Church on Sunday that more than 100 people turned out for, followed by a Chinese lunch.

Then on the big day itself on Monday Oulton Court residential accommodation in Grappenhall held a party for him too.