As this year's Anzac Day dawns, the North Albury man draws strength from his family, especially his grandchildren, and even finds an American war sitcom a source of amusement.

"I'll get to the march this year if it's a good day," he said, referring to both the weather and his ability to get there in his mobility scooter.

"Last year they had only veterans at this special service, they wouldn't allow relatives in, so I didn't go.

"I don't know why - they were focusing on honouring the blokes who served in it, I suppose."

In 1954, then leading aircraftman Boase was part of a team moving parts of a fighter plane fuel tank, after the armistice was signed some months before, when the tank exploded.

He spent many years later recovering from his injuries but he can still chuckle at the whole experience, especially when he watches MASH, a popular long-running American TV program that combined the horrors of war with the comedic antics of American doctors.

"Oh, that comedy, my grandkids have got the series of it," he said. " I love it, it reminds me of those times.

"We were on an American base in Korea - it was bit like MASH - the Yanks did have a good sense of humour.

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"After the accident I lived with these American blokes in a hospital in Japan - 'Goddamn, you Aussies, you speak better English than we do', they said to me at the time."

Mr Boase has lived alone after his wife died in 2015 but says he has plenty of support from his family and friends.

He spends a lot of time in his shed where he works on model steam trains, a passion which keeps him busy.

"I gained an interest in trains and it just built from there, they have real character, they're almost alive," he said. "I have lots of pictures and I make models. I look after myself and, while I have a few brains left, that is if I ever had any, I'm happy to stay here, I don't want to go into a [aged care] home."

He said one of his joys was coming across young people in the area who take the time to thank him for his efforts during the war.

"I think kids are the same as we were in some ways but I doubt they'd ever sign up for a war like we did," he said.

"I'll be walking up the street and kids come up and say 'thank you for your service' which is nice. There are no World War I blokes left, very few World War II blokes, I'm the only one left from the Korean War, in Albury at least."

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