Lewin Fitzhamon fought with the British army alongside Australians in Libya during 1942, and recalled last year upon his birthday how lucky he was to have survived the bitter and bloody campaign.

"I didn't expect to be 100, I do reflect sometimes because I got caught on a minefield," he said.

"I was afraid my legs were going to blow up, I can't remember getting on and getting off."

Surrounded by battle-hardened German and Italian troops, the allies fought back at El Alamein with a dogged determination and broke through enemy lines. Their victory was seen as a turning point and eventually led to the Axis powers’ defeat in north Africa the following year. 

But Mr Fitzhamon came to realise the senselessness and futility of war as epitomised by the raging conflict in Syria, which he closely followed. 

"You look at what's happening in Syria and places like that, wars were between armies and now civilians get killed,” he said.

"It's terrible what's going on, they're killing their own kith and kin."

Mr Fitzhamon’s eldest granddaughter Johanne Ollington said he was a loyal man whose war experience had stayed with him for life.

And it was at El Alamein where Mr Fitzhamon saw that in war survival often came down to luck.

“I can remember Lewin saying to all of us that one of his commanders said if you go to the top of a hill you’ll get a promotion, and one guy went to the top of the hill and immediately got blown up,” Ms Ollington said.

Born in London in 1916, his father Lewin Fitzhamon senior was a famous filmmaker in the early 1900s who helped pioneer the silver screen in its infancy. 

Mr Fitzhamon worked with his dad before the war and married his sweetheart Doreen in 1940.

His daughter's move to Australia in 1968 convinced Mr Fitzhamon and his wife to follow suit in 1970, and he spent 10 years working as an attendant at the National Library of Australia before moving to Lavington.

There will be a funeral service for Mr Fitzhamon at John Hossack’s on Wilson Street on Wednesday from 2pm, with the Border community invited to attend.