War veteran, 89, posts advert looking for job because he's 'dying of boredom'

An 89-year-old war veteran has posted an advert looking for a job – because he says he’s “dying of boredom”.

Widower Joe Bartley from Paignton, Devon, put the advert in his local paper as he is getting sick of sitting at home on his own.

He was a member of the Airborne Forces and served with the Army in Palestine after the Second World War, before later finding employment as a sign writer.

After retiring from a cleaning job at the age of 83, he has kept active by doing jobs around the house and gardening.

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However, now he wants a return to the workplace to escape what he calls the “solitary confinement” since his wife died two years ago.

Mr Bartley placed an advert in the classified section of the Torquay Herald Express newspaper.

It read: “Senior citizen 89 seeks employment in Paignton area. 20hrs+ per week. Still able to clean, light gardening, DIY and anything.

“I have references. Old soldier, airborne services.”

The advert finished: “Save me from dying of boredom!”

Mr Bartley said he placed the advert because he doesn’t want to require housing benefit.

“I was a sign writer by trade and have always been an active man,” he said.

“I am still active enough now. My wife died two years ago and I am not a television person.

“I like reading but you can’t do that all the time and it has been like I have been living in solitary confinement.

“I just want to get a job for five hours a day – to earn enough to pay the rent.

“I am on housing benefit but I would much rather work and pay my own way which I have done my whole life. I am old-fashioned like that.

“I would feel more like Joe – now I don’t feel like Joe because I’ve got to depend on the council for rent and everything else.

“I am so fed up of being here stuck with nothing to do. There is only so much TV you can watch or books to read.”

It isn’t the first time Mr Bartley has come out of retirement.

“I have always been in employment, but when I was 70 and retired I got a bit fed up,” he said.

“I saw a part-time job at the college doing some cleaning.

“I never thought I would get it because of my age. But they phoned me back and offered me the job and I couldn’t believe it.”

He kept that job for more than a decade before retiring a second time at the age of 83.

But now he wants back in the job market, although he is still waiting a response to his advert.

“I am now seeking employment to save me from the boredom of living in my flat on my own,” he said.

“I am bored stiff. I am still active but when I come back to the flat I have nothing to do. I certainly can’t watch television all day.”