Had 'facelift' to go to war. Dr Francis Leonard Harden, who is in London, celebrating his 75th birthday and taking his first holiday after a lifetime of adventure, including five wars, claims to be the oldest man to land with the British on the Sicilian beaches. In Bombay at the outbreak of World War II, Dr Harden persuaded a famous Czech surgeon to perform a delicate 'face lifting' operation, which gave him the appearance of a man of 55. He 'fooled the authorities' and began service in his fifth major campaign. He was a surgeon in the transport 'Devonshire' of Sicily, but broke ship together. Sure, because, he said, 'I wanted to get the old smell of cordite again'. On land he set up a dressing station moved on with the Eighth Army for 19 days. He was eventually questioned and interviewed by Montgomery. Sent back to his ship, the company lined the rails to receive him with cheers. His escapade cost him a 'gentle reprimand'. Dr Harden's adventure started when, as a boy of 14 he went to the South Seas (where he met Robert Louis Stevenson) to be successfully cured of tuberculosis. He took his medical degree in America. Among other things, the doctor has served at a leper station and been medical adviser to the Chinese army. Today he looks forward to being and another ship in the near future. 18 September 1946