His first breath, taken in an old English pub owned by his dad in Enfield, Middlesex in 1920, was just the beginning of what became a century full of adventures.

From fitting and turning, firefighting and joining the Royal Navy in the Fleet Air Arm division in 1940, soon rising to the rank of chief petty officer, Mr Possee had many different careers.

"I wanted to be a ship engineer as an apprentice, none of my family had anything to do with the sea, so I don't know why I chose that but I wanted to travel the world and have a good job, but it didn't quite work out that way," he said.

Mr Possee joined his local fire brigade at just 17 years old as a first aid instructor.

"The skipper of the camp where I was a fireman decided to build a fire float, so he bought an old life boat and we took things out, put things in, and ended up putting four big engines in, two for pumping and two for driving," he said.

"We decided to float the boat down the local river, but when we put it in the water, it sunk, so we hauled it back up, took it back to fire station and corked and corked and corked, and then took it back to the river, and it floated for five days."

From an old life boat that couldn't stay afloat, the vessel Mr Possee's brigade worked on became a very important piece of history.

"The war was starting to heat up and it was decided to use the fire float as a backup for the Thames boats, because we were only about 10 miles from the Thames," he said.

"The fire float ended up in London because all the small ships there were sent across to France to bring the troops back during the Dunkirk evacuation.

"So the fire floats in London went across to bring troops back and ours went to London to cover there during the invasion."

After 7 years in the Navy, Mr Possee spent time in Scotland and Trinidad before immigrating down under in 1949.

"We were one of five convoys going to Trinidad, and ours was hte only one to make it out," he said.

"I'm very lucky to be here."

In 1951, Mr Possee married Pat, a nurse from Deniliquin, and went on to have two children and now five grandchildren.

His new life in Australia saw him embark on a career with Qantas and as a Commonwealth Aircraft Inspector, retiring at 60 years old.

Retirement didn't stop him from keeping busy, though, as Mr Possee continues to be an active member in the Older Men: New Ideas group of Wagga, as well as helping out building wooden toys for the Lions Club over the years.

Mr Possee settled in Wagga in 2002 where he lives today, and had one simple response when asked what's gotten him to 100.

"Family. Family, always," he said.

"They've supported me and I've tried my best to support them."