"I lost a lot of good mates in the war - I will always pay respect to them."
Mr Harlow was born in Woodside, Dunedin, and later lived in Taranaki.
He was always bound for a role with a uniform having enjoyed being part of the scouting movement as a lad, and in 1933 volunteered to join the Queen Alexandria Mounted Rifle Regiment.
After war broke out he was off to Egypt and then it was off to Greece.
One of his starkest memories of Greece was the aftermath of a massive hammering of the allied forces.
The evacuation was on and as he stood by the cenotaph he looked up into the clear blue Napier sky and said "it was a day like this - blue sky, not a cloud and no aircraft up there".
He and his comrades were told to do as much damage as possible to their vehicles and equipment, but not to use fire which could attract enemy attention.
The destruction was to prevent the advancing Germans from using them.
"We took the sump plugs out and ran all the engines until they seized up - we used hammers, screwdrivers and anything to wreck everything," he said.
"We left a sorry mess, but to smash our own things up - that was a sad day."
He also remembers well the astonishing sights he saw on the island of Crete which the allies eventually lost the battle for.
"What kept them [German forces] in Crete was they had the bombers, the light bombers and transport planes - they had thousands of them."
With his mates, he witnessed the sight of 700 transport aircraft dropping paratroopers.
"But they didn't get it all their own way - the Greeks gave them hell and we had a good go at them."
Another firm memory was while he was in Egypt.
His regiment had been given armoured cars, rather than light tanks, after the ships transporting the tanks were sunk.
"My armoured car was the duty car for the day and I had to take an officer to duty headquarters," Mr Harlow said.
So while waiting for the officer he decided to get the boots off, get inside it, and give it a bit of a clean-up.
"Then I heard a voice behind me ask 'how do you like your new machine?"
Mr Harlow spoke his mind.
"I'd rather have a light tank," he said.
"So would I," the voice replied and when he looked to see who it was discovered he had been chatting with Lieutenant General Bernard "Tiny" Freyberg.
"I started to move out to salute him but he said 'no, stay where you are."
It was the first time he disobeyed an instruction from someone so highly ranked - out of respect he got up and saluted anyway.
"We had a bit of a chat."
Mr Harlow returned to New Zealand in 1942, after receiving the Greek War Medal, and was taken on to train tank personnel at Waiouru.
Despite his advancing years he was determined to get back to New Zealand for the 150th anniversary gathering at Linton Camp, for what could be his last visit. His carer/minder Greg Makatu said Mr Harlow was a determined travelling companion.
"It's been good, although getting a 101-year-old war veteran on to a plane was a bit of work but we got here - no problem at all."
Mr Harlow, poppy mission accomplished in Napier, said he had enjoyed his two days in Hawke's Bay and summed it up simply by saying "it's nice here".
