He has fought in two World Wars, thwarted torpedo attacks and mines, and recently celebrated his 105th birthday.

William Stone sells poppies in Watlington

But tomorrow (Saturday), William Stone will be out, as he is every year, selling poppies.

Mr Stone, from Watlington, knows only too well the huge sacrifice the small emblems represent.

Oxfordshire's only living survivor of both World Wars, during his 27-year naval career he was at the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, aboard the minesweeper Salamander, which returned to the beaches five times.

He saw a ship, 50 yards from his vessel, sunk with 100 sailors and 200 soldiers on board. And while serving in Atlantic convoys, he felt a torpedo skim the bows of his ship.

While Mr Stone emerged unscathed, most of his young colleagues did not. Now he is hoping others will swell the ranks of Oxfordshire's poppy sellers and raise cash for veterans and service families still in need.

He said: "I have been selling poppies for many years. And last year I managed to get £150 in my tin.

"I tell people: 'Put something in this tin -- you're there walking about, while many are not.' There are disabled people and young families needing the British Legion's support.

"I show them all my medals and talk about what I saw, and I even go into schools and tell the children what the poppies are about.

"It's important to buy poppies, but people should also realise what they represent."

The 10th of 14 children, Mr Stone joined the Royal Navy in Plymouth as a stoker at 18 after an initial attempt -- thwarted by his father, who refused to sign his papers -- to follow his brothers and sign up at 15. He said: "I'm lucky to have survived, but many didn't."

On Wednesday, he was heralded by a lone bugler playing the General Salute at the National Army Museum in central London, to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. He said: "It was a great honour. I'll be outside Watlington Post Office selling my poppies and hopefully again next year and the year after that. I'll also be asking people to consider selling poppies themselves.

"The number of collectors is falling. We need all the help we can get."