Prince Harry with a special message wishing World War II Veteran Private Joseph Hammond a happy 100th birthday
Prince Harry with a special message wishing World War II Veteran Private Joseph Hammond a happy 100th birthday.
“Mr Hammond of Ghana” 🇬🇭❤️
@pte_hammond : Thank you, #PrinceHarry, The Duke of Sussex, for your heartfelt birthday message. At 100, I’m reminded that service and respect cross all borders. The Invictus Games in Ghana has my full support—land is available.
Prince Harry with a special message wishing World War II Veteran Private Joseph Hammond a happy 100th birthdayhttps://t.co/wz4KkqG1uc pic.twitter.com/uwetFme4mj
— DailyGraphic GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) May 10, 2025
In 2020, the then 95-year-old Ghanaian Private Joseph Hammond, who had walked 14 miles to raise money for frontline workers in Africa “brought a huge smile” to Prince Harry’s face, and he wrote a letter to the war veteran.
Prince Harry applauded the veteran for taking up the strenuous task for a good cause. “Even at ’95 years young’ I imagine it was not an easy task,” he wrote in the letter to Hammond.
“However, given the service and selflessness you have demonstrated throughout your life, it does not surprise me that you would take on a challenge such as this – and that you wanted to walk even more miles. As you said yourself, it is amazing!”
Inspired by the UK’s Colonel Tom Moore, a fellow veteran whose walk raised more than $40 million (£32.7 million) for the country’s National Health Service (NHS), Private Hammond set out to do the same for healthcare workers across the African continent.
Both Hammond and Moore fought in Myanmar, then known as Burma in World War II.
Hammond said he served as a mechanic in the army where he was attached to the 3rd Gold Coast regiment as an infantryman, fighting alongside the British army.
Prince Harry praised both veterans whose achievements, he said had set a “fine example to the world” on the importance of service to one’s community.
In 2019, during a celebration for Commonwealth soldiers in the UK, Hammond met with the Queen and members of the Royal Family, including Prince Harry whom he took a liking to. “This man especially, Prince Harry, I glued myself to him because he is also a soldier, he’s been to Afghanistan, and we spoke about the military, my battalion. We exchanged ideas. It was wonderful,” he told CNN.
Recalling the meeting, Prince Harry said in his letter that it was “an honor and a pleasure” to meet with the veteran. “It was an honour and a pleasure to meet you at the Field of Remembrance in London last year, and Meghan and I send you our warmest wishes,” he added.
