September 24, 201015 yr Pensioner who has smoked 292,000 cigarettes celebrates his 100th birthday By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 6:32 PM on 24th September 2010 Comments (0) Add to My Stories A pensioner who has smoked almost 300,000 cigarettes during his lifetime has celebrated his 100th birthday. Arthur Langran, who survived being blown up by a grenade during the Second World War, claims the secret behind his longevity is always doing what everyone tells him not to. The father-of-two started smoking when he was 20 and has smoked at least ten cigarettes every day since then - the equivalent of 292,000. Celebration: Arthur Langran toasted his 100th birthday by puffing on a cigar and enjoying a glass of whisky The centenarian, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, also drinks a glass of single malt whisky every night before he goes to bed, another factor he credits for his long life. More... The Blitz spirit lives on: Aldwych Tube station reopens in period costume to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain That one glass though, added up, equates to 900 bottles of the spirit but Arthur claims he has no plans to change his ways. Wartime: Arthur Langran was a sergeant in the Suffolk Regiment. He survived being blown up by a grenade during the Second World War 'I always say the secret is doing things you're not told to do,' he said. 'I have been smoking since I was 20 and I still enjoy it - and a pipe.' He celebrated his birthday with a drink at his local pub on September 8th. Amazingly until he left the Army and discovered his birth certificate he had always believed he was born on September 6th. His son Peter, 60, has admitted he's told his father, who was born an orphan, to continue his routine of smoking and drinking. 'These days he rolls himself five or six a day but used to smoke more and has his pipe once in the morning and once in the afternoon,' he said. 'The doctor has said it's not worth getting him to give up the cigarettes. 'He's had a tough old life. He was an orphan, had a terrible time living and working in Canada and was blown up by a grenade in the war.' Arthur returned to Britain in 1940 after being sent to Canada as an orphan and went on to join the Army during the Second World War. The grenade blast during the war has left him with shrapnel under his skin which he still carries round with him today. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314975/Pensioner-smoked-292-000-cigarettes-celebrates-100th-birthday.html#ixzz10TYzc7sn
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