From WWII Britain to Missouri: Fawcett marks 102 years

Springfield resident looks back on military service overseas, more than a century of life
 
Gwendolyn Fawcett, an attendee of the Veteran’s Day service at the Republic Senior Center, turned 102 on Thursday, Jan. 15, celebrating an eventful and dramatic life of service, immigration and family.
Fawcett currently resides in Springfield, on the southwest side. Still living independently and with little assistance in a home off of Republic Road. She has not always been a Missourian, or even an American for that matter. Fawcett found her original home in rural Great Britain, living on a dairy farm before the outbreak of World War II. Fighting broke out in 1939, however, leaving little option but for Fawcett to find some way to serve her country. Her brother, who was already in the service, told her that a job in the air force could be most beneficial, which sounded good enough to her.
Fawcett joined up with the Royal Air Force’s auxiliary unit in 1941 when she was 17. The war had started in Britain two years before, in 1939. This was before women were permitted to fly planes or do much of anything, said Fawcett, with many only taking on more important roles now that the men were overseas fighting Germans. Fawcett was picked to be a driver for the air force, tasked with delivering important items and people to key areas around the country. First though, she had to go to driving school.
Fawcett had not often been around cars, so learning how to drive seemed a daunting task at the time. She took to it quickly, however, surviving the first wave of cuts. She then had to learn how to drive trucks, another vehicle she was entirely unfamiliar with. She avoided washing out in this area too and officially began her service for the Royal Air Force.
Fawcett didn’t see much action in the war, but she did play a hand in assisting the British forces. Fawcett would often transport small diorama renderings of German towns, the details of which were captured while British planes were flying over the country.
She said that buzz bombs, a type of German bomb that made a high-pitched buzzing noise when dropped, were common during the war. The Germans would often drop these bombs on Britain and therefore, on Fawcett. There was one particularly close call she conjures to mind. Fawcett, along with a group of others, was sheltered in an old bombed-out mansion, sleeping in cots. While asleep in those cots one night, they were disturbed by a terrible droning. Looking out the shattered window, they saw what appeared to be a bomb heading right for them.
“We were quite sure it was going to hit the building,” said Fawcett. “But it didn’t; it went right past us, right past the window.
Despite the danger, it was the war that brought Fawcett and her husband, John Fawcett, together. John Fawcett was an American soldier stationed in the U.K. They met in April of 1944 when he was stationed right next to Gwendolyn Fawcett’s family farm. They were promptly married in September of that same year.
“When you live in a war country, you don’t mess around; you get stuff done,” said Fawcett.

Moving to the states
She would soon be pregnant and was relieved of duty in June of 1945, with her baby coming in January of 1946. This was about the time, according to Fawcett, that Americans were heading home. John Fawcett was offered the opportunity of going back to the states or remaining in Britain. He chose to stay in England until the baby was born but was sent to Germany by the Army Air Force. He would eventually be discharged and find work in Nebraska, taking his wife along with him.
Fawcett’s first impression of America was the city of Chicago, but she didn’t stop to sightsee, she had breakfast and the hopped right on a train to head to Nebraska. She didn’t notice too many striking differences between the U.S. and the U.K. upon her arrival as she moved from one rural, milk producing area, to another. One thing she did note, however, was that the men would wear jeans to milk the cows, and they would do so by hand.
From there, the Fawcetts started a family together, with Fawcett opening up a beauty shop along the way, specializing in electrolysis. She and her husband moved to Missouri in 1994 to the house Gwendolyn Fawcett now inhabits. John Fawcett, however, died in 1996. Fawcett’s daughter, however, now lives right next door.

Life at 102
Fawcett still gets around pretty well for being 102 years of age; she was able to drive until she was 99 and has been able to live fairly independently save for a few visits from her daughter right next door.
Reflecting on her long life, Fawcett is happy to have had the opportunity to be around for so long, but it does come with drawbacks.
“It’s kind of nice in a way, but I don’t like being so slow getting around.
She turned 102 on Thursday, Jan. 15 and had visits from out-of-town family to celebrate. When asked for her secret to such a long life she said:
“I ate what I wanted, I went where I wanted, and I guess I was mean enough to just keep going,” said Fawcett.

In a sad note, we report Fawcett passed away the morning of Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. We offer our condolences to the family of an exceptional lady.