WW2 veteran comes out as transgender aged 90

A retired ex-serviceman formally known as Peter has come out as transgender at the grand old age of 90.

The WW2 veteran now goes by the name of Patricia Davies and is now having female hormones in order to transition to a woman at a late stage of her life.

Patricia, who served in the army from April 1945 until April 1948, says she has known she was a woman since she was just three-years-old but feared how people would react for decades.

However, last year doctors changed her medical records to ‘female’ and the OAP feels like she has a new lease of life.

She opened up to her late wife about her feelings in 1987, and was bought jewellery and dresses to wear in secret by her.

But she remained living as Peter after receiving abuse from people in the street until she began taking feminising hormone oestrogen, dressing and acting like a woman and revealing her secret to her neighbours.

Patricia, from a village in Leicestershire, said: “It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I was living a lie.

“I have been keeping quiet. I have slowly started to tell some of my neighbours. Everybody said ‘don’t worry, as long as you’re happy’.

“I’ve known I was transgender since I was three-years-old. I knew a girl called Patricia and I decided I wanted to be known by that name but it didn’t stick.

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“From about the age of four I didn’t want to play with girls’ toys. I didn’t want toy soldiers. I wanted an ironing board.

“My mother seemed to go along with it. We went to see Peter Pan and I wanted to be a fairy. She made me a wand. She didn’t say it was strange.”

Patricia, who says she is not gay, said she has always been attracted to women but in a non-sexual way.

Explaining why she never came out as trans earlier, she added: “The atmosphere [around being transgender] was not safe. People did not understand what transgender was.

“Really even the medical profession didn’t understand it as the treatment was to give you the electric shock treatment.

“They thought they could make you better. They didn’t realise it was something that you could not cure.

“Because of the general hostility of people I kept quiet. It wasn’t until recently that I felt safe to come out and I felt an overwhelming desire that I wanted to break free.

“So I came out and I’ve not regretted it.”

During her time in the armed forces, Patricia served in the Far East, India, East Africa and Palestine.

She said: “You took your life in your hands in the army. I had to keep my mouth shut about being transgender, you couldn’t flaunt that as that would have been a disaster.

“Transgender wasn’t really known in those days. I would have been classed as homosexual, which would have caused problems in the army. I would have ended up in prison.”

Patricia was married to her wife for 63 years but she sadly passed away six years ago. The OAP decided to come out to her doctor last year.

Since coming out, Patricia has become a member of The Beaumont Society, a support group for the transgender community as well as joining the Women’s Institute.

Top pic: Caters