James (Jim) Forbes showed off his official greetings from the King and Queen, along with a certificate on behalf of the council, when he was visited by Depute Provost Bert Thomson and Depute Lord Lieutenant Andrew Braidwood earlier this month.

Born in Glasgow in 1926, Jim’s life has been one of service and hard work. Within four years of leaving school, at the age of just 13, he joined the Navy. From 1943, he served in World War II as a gunner in the Far East.

(The photo above with the Arctic Star from 2013 is courtesy of the Hamilton Advertiser.)

His role aboard Royal Navy Arctic convoys to Russia earned him an array of awards from the Russian consulate, including the coveted Arctic Star. This was awarded retrospectively to just 200 sailors in 2013 for their role in manning convoys that supplied the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945 with British and American munitions.

Jim was most recently awarded by Russia in March 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the conflict.

On return from war, Jim briefly worked as a steeplejack to support family life with wife Rachel and their four children – Brian, Kenneth, Moira, and Susan. But a life of service was soon to come calling again as a fireman with the Glasgow Fire Brigade in 1949. 

During his illustrious career, he attended some of the most infamous fire disasters of the 1960s and 1970s, including Cheapside Street (1960), James Watt Street (1968), and Kilbirnie Street (1972). His service saw him awarded the MBE in 1980. He ended his career as Divisional Commander for E Division of the then Strathclyde Fire Brigade.

Now retired for almost 40 years, Jim is celebrating his 100th birthday with his family and friends, including his four children and ten grandchildren, at home in Uddingston.

Depute Provost Thomson has described meeting Jim as ‘an honour and a privilege’.

He added: “Mr Forbes is part of a generation that lived through some of the most momentous events and experiences of our modern world. His has been a lifetime of service, hard work, and helping others, for which he has been rightly rewarded throughout the years.

“I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him and hearing even a few of a century of memories. On behalf of the people of South Lanarkshire, I wish him the happiest of birthdays surrounded by those who know and love him best.”

Jim is pictured above with a fellow Navy officer on HMS Devonshire during World War II