Mojacar mourns a long-standing expat

OLDEST RESIDENT: Bertie with Mayor Rosa Maria Cano.

MOJACAR’S oldest resident Colonel Hubert Finch TD passed away after a short illness. 

Bertie, who had lived in Mojacar for the past 35 years, was distinguished this past August by receiving from the hand of HM Queen Elizabeth II a congratulatory notice on the celebration of his centenary. 

Bertie was born in August 1915, during  the Great War, and he was active in the Second World War, including being part of the D-Day landing force in Normandy where he was promoted to Captain. 

He was active in Antwerp, Cuxhaven and many other areas with his small group of specialists as an ‘Enemy Ammunition Disposal Group’, a terrifying job which would later be known as a ‘Bomb Disposal Unit’.

In 1947, he retired from his military duties as Deputy Inspector of Ordnance Services Western Command with the rank of Colonel.

He moved to Mojacar in 1980 after the death of his wife and famously registered the area’s first bowling club, in Turre. 

In 1996, he was given the task of forming the first Branch of the Royal British Legion, which he did with 15 members. Later he helped with the formation of two more branches. Inga, his companion for many years, as he would often say, ‘was his rock’. 

Bertie’s many friends in Mojacar will join his family in mourning his loss, while no doubt reflecting that ‘he had a long and honourable life’.

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