There have been many significant moments in Reg Turver's long life.

As a small boy, he stood in the fields at his dad's farm near Howden and watched the R100 airship being built.

Years later, as a young apprentice train driver/ fireman, he survived the Baedeker Raid on York Railway Station, and shovelled coal on trains carrying munitions for D-Day.

In the 1960s, he drove some of the first new diesel trains. And in 1983, he piloted the Intercity 125 train named City of York on its maiden run from York to London.

In 2011, by then 89 and long since retired, he unveiled a new, electric City of London train at York Railway Station. He was presented with a nameplate which he keeps in his home in Foxwood to this day.

York Press:

Reg the train driver in the cab of one of his diesel locomotives

Next week, he'll add another significant moment to that tally. Because on August 3, he'll turn 100. His family are planning a party. And, of course, he'll receive the traditional telegram from the Queen. "I'm looking forward to that!" he said.

Reg's first years were spent on his dad James' farm near Sutton Bank. When he was a few years old, the family moved to a farm in East Yorkshire. Just across the road was the former air station at Howden where the R100 airship was built.

Reg remembers seeing it. "It was enormous!" he said.

In his teens, the family moved again, to a farm in Wigginton. At 17, he was taken on as an apprentice driver/ fireman on the railways. "And I was there for 47 years!"

The old steam locomotives - he worked on Gresley Pacifics - were huge, and the cabs were hot and filled with smoke and cinders.

He worked on trains throughout the war - and remembers clocking in at 2.10am on the morning of an April day in 1942. Ten minutes later, the air raid sirens sounded - the infamous Baedeker Raid had begun.

Reg, still in his teens, was instructed to go into a shelter. When he emerged a couple of hours later it was to a world of smoke and fire. "York Station had been hit," he said. The railway line at Severus Curve had also been damaged. "It was a while before they got back to normal!"

He also remembers working on a military train carrying a load of howitzers draped in camouflage netting down from Newcastle. It was June 1944.

As they passed Alne he saw a row of bombers lined up, propellers turning. He knew something was up - but not what. Only later did he realise he'd been helping transport munitions for the D-Day landings.

The 1960s saw the arrival of new diesel trains. They were a dream to drive. "They were clean, and you could sit on a leather seat. There was no dirt or cinders flying about!"

He retired in 1987. But in 2011, as the man who had driven the first City of York locomotive down to London in 1983, he unveiled the new City of York at York Railway Station.

York Press:

Reg, right, at the unveiling of the 'new' City of York in 2011

He and family were then treated to a journey to London on the new electric train - and given dinner in First Class on the way back. "It was grand!" he said.

Next Wednesday his family - three children, six grandchildren and various great-grandchildren - are planning a 100th birthday treat.

His daughter Lynne Chadwick, who has helped look after Reg since his wife Jean passed away in 2018, said there would be a special cake. "It will have City of York on it!" she said.