Happy birthday Lord Raymond

Ray Dunn had no trouble blowing out the candles on his 100th birthday cake, with encouragement from wife Colleen. Photo / Peter Jackson

Life probably doesn't hold too many surprises for anyone who celebrates 100 birthdays, but that wasn't the case for Ray Dunn on Saturday.

The best-kept secret of the day was finally divulged by his wife Colleen, who announced that, with the connivance of her daughter Gaye Simms, he was now the proud owner of one square metre of land in Scotland, which entitled him to be addressed as Lord Raymond Francis Dunn.

Step daughter Sandra Shackleton, who hosted Saturday's celebration with her husband Eric, was the first to bow in the appropriate fashion.

Ray is now officially a resident of Kaitaia, with wife Colleen (formerly Smith), but he was born and raised in the small New South Wales town of Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains, the son and grandson of stone masons, who houses, built for wealthy clients in Sydney, still stand.

He was an engineer by trade, early projects including the Circular Quay railway station in Sydney, and a commission to develop tubular steel as a structural medium. He subsequently travelled the world, lecturing on all things engineering, and established his own business in Australia.

He also served with the RAAF during WWII, piloting Liberator bombers based in Darwin, surviving two tropical storms, twice being shot down, and a 'dead stick' landing in Darwin after his aircraft ran out of fuel.

Plan A had been to abandon the plane, but one of the crew had lost his parachute, Ray declaring that if one stayed aboard the bomber, all would stay.

In 2008, having lost his wife of 60 years, and his only daughter, he moved to Queenstown, where he joined the RSA and the Senior Citizens' Club - he is now the Kaitaia Aero Club's oldest member - and met recently retired Colleen.

"I was waiting for someone to talk to and in she walked," he said.

They soon bought a caravan so she could show him New Zealand, and three or four months later they finally reached Colleen's home town, Kaitaia, having seen "just about every inch" of the country and meeting "just about everyone."

The couple phoned family in the Far North in advance, inviting them to "polish the wedding bells," and the couple were married a few days later.

Ray, who actually reached 100 years yesterday, was feted in the appropriate fashion on Saturday, with pride of place for the Australian flag and singing of the Australian national anthem, while the traditional congratulatory cards were received from both Australia and New Zealand's prime ministers and governors-general, and the Queen.