Deal baker John Rogers says turning 100 does not mean he will be putting his apron away.

Despite retiring from the trade and selling his string of shops in Deal and Sandwich in 1985, Mr Rogers is still baking his own bread.

Every Monday, his son Michael helps in producing eight small loaves and seven rolls – white and brown – to see them both through the week.

And that is the way it is going to stay.

He said: “I went into baking when I was 14 and I’m still at it now.”

Although, he will admit he sticks to the sitting-down jobs during the two-and-a-half-hour task, while his son takes care of the standing-up duties.

Mr Rogers was born in Blenheim Terrace in Upper Gladstone Road, Deal, on December 8, 1916, the eldest child to Alice and Frederick Rogers, a coach driver in Deal. He became an older brother at the age of six to twins Harry and Ted.

He attended at St Mary’s School in Park Street until the age of 14, when he started working at Cavells Bakery in Queen Street.

When the Second World War broke out, Mr Rogers told his mother that he was volunteering for the Army.

After basic training he continued his trade with the Royal Army Service Corps.

He worked in Ostend, Belgium, as the only Englishman among Germans. He was baking bread for troops during the D-Day landings in France.

He said: “It was a nice job. I had my own property and I was solely in charge.”

In 1945, after six years in uniform, Mr Rogers was told of a vacancy in Germany where he would have been promoted to sergeant.

He said: “I thought: ‘Great, that’s just what I want’. Then I found out who my OC (Officer Commanding) would be.

“Well, I didn’t want him. I’d worked with him before and we’d had a dispute.

“I had the choice to go to Germany or come home, so I came home.”

Back in Deal, he not only had his former job at Cavells waiting for him, but also a fiancee.

Betty had caught his eye when he was stationed at Ruperra Castle in Lower Machen near Newport, South Wales. Standing outside a fish and chip shop, he asked for one of her chips and the conversation led to romance.

They exchanged letters all the time he was away and married on March 30, 1946 in Lower Machen, Betty’s home village.

Five years after his return to England, the couple started their own bakery, J & E Rogers, in North Street, Deal.

Mr Rogers said: “I worked all through the night, just me, to make our first issue of bread. We didn’t know who was going to buy it.

“When Betty opened the shop door and looked out there was a queue all the way up North Street. We were made up.”

To read more about Mr Rogers' baking years, pick up this week's East Kent Mercury - out now.