EVERY morning, Esdale Davis pinches himself in a couple of places along his arm until he can feel it.
Then, he looks in the mirror.
“I see myself, so I figure I must still be here,” he says with a sharp wit that’s done him well during his 100 years.
This Friday, he’ll be dressing himself up as guest of honour of Brisbane’s Lord Mayor at a special function to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Australian Air Force.
As the last surviving member of Brisbane-based No 23 Squadron, it’s not the first time he’s been given the red carpet treatment, and it’s unlikely to be the last.
Mr Davis, who has been a tai chi instructor and says he’s always maintained a fit and healthy lifestyle, still walks around the lake most days at Bethania, and neighbours say he’s so active that he’s sometimes hard to find.
“I remember as a boy on my bicycle, one of the other boys said ‘look at how skinny Esdale is’, so as the little fellow I always wanted to keep up with exercise,” he said.
It didn’t stop him getting dengue fever, nor a back injury in a truck accident.
But the man who was promoted to Sergeant at a tender age in his 20s has always bounced back from adversity – much like the squadron of which he is so proud.
He speaks of Australia’s two histories – the one which talks only of our successes, and another of the losses, the real story of Waltzing Matilda is one he tells with some pride.
He also recalls his squadron taking a beating from the Japanese, from which pilots and aircraft didn’t return. And then the move to Papua New Guinea.
Mr Esdale was a technical librarian, and the pilots were his mates.
He had a job through the depression and joined the air force after seeing a sign that said: “Drop your swag and pick up a rifle.” He didn’t pick up the rifle, but he remembers joining the air force at just 20 before a rapid rise from office boy to sergeant in quick time.
“I always wanted to sail to England on the Queen Mary, but I never got the chance to do that,” he said.
Mr Esdale turned 100 last week and has his letter from the Queen and others.
“Yes, it’s the first time for me,” he said. “Never been 100 before.”
Asked of his first memory, he says it was strangely from the womb.
“I was comfortable there. I wanted to be carried around in my mother’s stomach,” he says.
He remembers his first hair cut at age 3 or 4, and anyone who sits to chat with Mr Davis will realise there’s not much he doesn’t know or remember.
He’s had two marriages, to one who left him for a woman, and another who he says was his soul mate.
As for the future? “I don’t think I’ll be here for the next 100, but I make the most of every moment,” he said.
