A RENOWNED artist and sculptor who was born as the First World War guns fell silent, celebrates his 101st birthday today (Monday).

Denis Curry marked the occasion with his friends at Narberth's Living Memory Group, where he proudly wore the medals he was awarded during his active service in the Second World War.

His life has been as varied and dramatic as the moment he was born at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.

After his Second World War service with the Royal Engineers in North Africa and Monte Casino, Mr Curry went to the Slade School to pursue his passion for the arts.

There, he won several prizes for his drawing and sculptures, and developed his passion for flight.

Mr Curry still enjoys sketching, and youngsters from Narberth CP School who go along to the Living Memory Group are always delighted to be pictured by him.

Many of the artist's sculptures depict birds in flight, but he is also known for constructing 'The Human-Powered Wing' - a variable-geometry ornithopter, claimed to be the first such machine to initiate propulsion solely by means of the wing movements.

Such was the interest in this work of art that it featured in a 1975 broadcast on the BBC.

Mr Curry moved to Pembrokeshire in 1976, settling in Llanycefn.

*To find out more about Denis Curry's human-powered wing, visit humanpoweredwing.co.uk