When a bomb dropped on Daisy Vercammen’s home in 1942 it obliterated all her belongings and left her with nothing.

Luckily, the then 32-year-old Union Jack club employee was not inside at the time, she was at the theatre with her Belgian husband Lambert enjoying a night out instead.

The couple, who had married a year earlier, moved to Camberwell Green to start over and went on to have two daughters; Elvera, 67, and Sylvia, 60.

Last week, relatives of Mrs Vercammen gathered from as far as Canada to celebrate her 100th birthday and life over the past century.

Sutton Mayoress, Councillor Margaret Court, also attended the grandmother-of-seven’s party at Chegworth Nursing Home in Sutton.

Son-in-law Brian Turnball, 70, said: “She really enjoyed herself. We have about 14 members of family here from abroad – it has been a very special occasion.”

Mr Turnball said Mrs Vercammen started off work in service at a Chelsea family home and met her husband after he escaped from the Nazis in 1941.

He said: “She was quite a lady in her day and still is very lady-like.”