101 year old care home resident becomes published author

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Hilderstone Hall care home in Stone have been celebrating one of their much-loved and very talented residents, Herbert Helmut Benneman, who has published his autobiography entitled ‘My Story, 100 Years in the Making’ which celebrates his amazing life.

Born in Eisenberg in Germany in December 1924, Herbert, known as Bert, has lived a long and remarkable life.  His daughters begged him to write down his stories so Bert obliged and wrote his memoirs for his friends and family. 

Bert became a soldier in December 1942 when he turned 18 and served in the German Army. He was wounded in Sicily with a piece of Shrapnel in the leg. He was captured in France and taken to New Mexico cotton picking and then worked in Memphis, Tennessee in a large hospital for wounded soldiers.

At the end of the war, Bert was sent to the UK via Liverpool, he worked on a farm in Cropredy in Oxfordshire with the Land Girls.  In 1950 he was released from POW status but decided to stay in the UK because his mother and brother had sadly passed away during the war and his home town was now in the Russian sector behind the iron curtain. 

 Bert became a British citizen in March 1956.  He moved to Draycott in Stoke-on-Trent and became a Design Engineer working for Simplex GE in Blythe Bridge.

Through chatting to Bert and reminiscing about his life, the team at Hilderstone Hall were delighted to discover that he had written a book called 'My Story, 100 Years in the Making.'  Bert was so thrilled when some of the staff said that they would love to hear the stories of his long and varied life.

Bert said: “I enjoyed writing my memoirs, I am so thankful that I can still remember so many memories – some good, some not so good.  I lived independently at home till just after my 100th birthday.  I’ve always been busy and active, I taught myself to paint in water colour and oils, I also taught myself to play an electric keyboard and even wrote a couple of songs.  I enjoyed panning for gold in Scotland and Wales. For my 99th birthday I fulfilled a wish of mine and flew a small aircraft over my house which was wonderful experience. I have had a great life here in the UK and feel very lucky I ended up in Liverpool on that boat from America all those years ago.”

Charlotte Lownds, General Manager at Hilderstone Hall, commented: “We are all so very proud of our lovely Bert, to become an author aged 100 is amazing!  He has led such a fascinating life, we all love hearing about his adventures and it is wonderful that he has written down all his stories for prosperity.”

Hilderstone Hall is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Hilderstone Hall provides residential, nursing and dementia care for respite breaks and longer-term stays.