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A 105-year-old-man who is believed to have been the oldest former firefighter in the world has died just weeks after a prestigious party was held in his honour.

Last month representatives from London Fire Brigade Retired Members Association, Essex Fire and Rescue and London Fire Brigade (LFB) – including deputy assistant commissioner Allen Perez – visited John “Jack” Corbett at his care home in Essex as part of the brigade’s 150th anniversary celebrations. He was the oldest living person to have served with LFB.

Mr Corbett died in his sleep on Sunday, May 15.

Firemen were still wearing brass helmets and using horse-drawn carriages when Mr Corbett was born in 1910. A firefighter in Clerkenwell during the Blitz, Mr Corbett narrowly escaped death and helped protect St Paul’s Cathedral from German firebombs. A gardener by trade, he moved to London from Woking to work at Pugh Bros, a Clerkenwell glass warehouse off St John Street, during the Depression.

He lodged around the corner and went on to marry Ivy, the daughter of the house. They went to Sadler’s Wells Theatre for their first date and were married in 1935 in the Clerkenwell Mission Chapel. The couple had two children, Pamela and John.

When the Second World War broke out, Mr Corbett enlisted in the London Auxiliary Fire Service, set up to deal with night after night bombing, and was based at Clerkenwell Fire Station.

He was responsible for protecting St Paul’s Cathedral during the Luftwaffe raids and recalled narrowly escaping a bomb, which landed on the building next to the fire station.

One of his most vivid memories from that time was climbing up into the cross at the top of St Paul’s and looking out across the war-torn capital.

Mr Corbett always impressed upon his family how lucky they were not to have lost anyone during the Blitz.

In 1941 he was accepted into the brigade as a professional fire­fighter before all brigades were nationalised later that year.

Public opinion of the fire service changed significantly during the war. Firefighters had been thought of as “army dodgers” but this changed as they became known as the “heroes with grimy faces”.

After the war, Mr Corbett transferred to Fortis Green Fire Station and later Hornsey, before retiring in 1965.

He served as a fireman, leading fireman and section leader during his career.

The family moved to Finchley from Clerken­well and, as Mr Corbett and his wife approached old age, they went to live with Pamela and her husband in Maldon, Essex. Ivy died in 2003.

Still remarkably fit and active until just a few years ago, Mr Corbett put his long life down to not drinking, smoking and being a Christian. He was a passionate gardener, enjoyed bowls and was still going on foreign holidays into his late 90s.

Mr Corbett leaves Pamela, John, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.