It's a hattrick! Britain's oldest triplets all smiles as they celebrate 80th birthdays

When they were born, doctors didn't think they'd make it.
But Britain's oldest surviving triplets were all smiles today as they came together to celebrate their 80th birthday.
Brothers Ronald, Eric and David Thurman were all born within three minutes of each other in May 1931.

They gave their mum the a triple shock as had been hoping for a little girl and never expected twins, let alone three boys.
They spent their first weeks sleeping in a chest of drawers and at school needed their initial sewn into their uniforms so they could be identified.

The three boys, born in Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent, celebrated with a family birthday bash in Turville, Oxfordshire, where Eric lives. Ron lives in Kent and David retired to France.
They became the oldest surviving triplets after the death last January of Morgan Llewellyn, from Rhondda, south Wales. He and brothers Ivor and Idwal were 81.
Ronald is older than his brothers, but he says there is confusion over who is the youngest.
The great-grandfather-of-three said: 'They would argue about which is which, so I don't know who came second- Eric or David. 

'Although we're not identical, we're all very similar, so people would muddle us up.'
Born in Oxfordshire on May 5, 1931, Mr Thurman says his mother was surprised to give birth to three babies.
He said: 'She didn't know she was having triplets. My mum was hoping for a girl, she already had Kenneth, who was four at the time.
'Unfortunately, we all turned out to be boys - I don't know how she managed it, but she did.'
He added: 'We were lucky we all survived because when we wore born, we were born in my mother's bed.
'There was no doctor in attendance - there were nurses who lived opposite and they helped deliver us.'

Eric's daughter Angela said: 'Their mum already had a boy. She was hoping for a daughter. She had all three boys at home three minutes apart. It was a bit of a shock.'
Angeala said news quickly spread of their arrival and the media followed the boys as they grew up and were photographed for local and national press.'
She said: 'It was very rare for triplets to survive. The media took photos of them as babies and followed their progress.'

Their pictures were used on various posters during war time campaigns- one of which shows them in gas masks. The 80th birthday celebration was the first time the whole family had come together for 20 years.
The brothers went through albums and remembered their early memories. All three boys had daughters and no sons and they have all outlived their wives. Angela said: 'They get on really well although they do not see each other very often. They started remembering stories. If one forgot a bit another would fill it in.'
They told grandchildren of their experiences in the war of when they were split up and evacuated and how their mother came and rescued them after word got home that they were sleeping on straw with the chickens. 

Growing up, Mr Thurman said the boys would often present a puzzle to teachers. Despite a slight height difference, the brothers all looked alike. To combat the problem, Mr Thurman's mother sewed their initials into their jumpers.
He said: 'Teachers couldn't tell us apart, so at school we had the first letter of our name sewn into our shirt.
'If we stood together, it spelt out RED. We were all ginger too, so we were known as the RED heads. Kids at school called us ginger tops.'
 After leaving school, Mr Thurman worked as an apprentice before being called up to join the RAF at 18. He worked as a senior clerk at his post in Reading, while his brother Eric qualified as a medical orderly at RAF Benson. 

Meanwhile, David was posted to Germany with the Royal Engineers.
 Looking at a picture of him with his brothers from the war, he said: 'If the triplets went to war, everybody did.'
After the war, Mr Thurman went on to marry Sheila and have three daughters and five grandchildren. He worked as an auditor for the London borough of Southwark, and remained in Oxfordshire to look after his elderly parents.
 Meanwhile, Eric moved to be with his wife, Nan, to open a horse riding centre, and David retired to France with his wife, Joyce.
The brothers have since outlived their wives.
On being a triplet, Mr Thurman concluded: 'It's nice to have brothers. Despite people mixing us up, we never worried. It was fun.'






 .