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 Harry Patch, last British WWI soldier, dies at 111Moderators: Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | |
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Plankowner Posts: 9164 Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: Harry Patch, last British WWI soldier, dies at 111 Thanks to Patty Lynn =========================================================== Harry Patch, last British WWI soldier, dies at 111 By JILL LAWLESS (AP) – 5 hours ago LONDON — Harry Patch, the last British army veteran of World War I, has died at 111, the nursing home where he lived said Saturday. The Fletcher House care home in Wells, southwest England, said Patch died early Saturday. "He just quietly slipped away at 9 a.m. this morning," said care home manager Andrew Larpent. "It was how he would have wanted it, without having to be moved to hospitals but here, peacefully with his friends and carers." Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the whole country would mourn "the passing of a great man." "The noblest of all the generations has left us, but they will never be forgotten. We say today with still greater force, We Will Remember Them," Brown said. Prince Charles said "nothing could give me greater pride" than paying tribute to Patch. "The Great War is a chapter in our history we must never forget, so many sacrifices were made, so many young lives lost," he said.  Patch had been the last surviving soldier from the British army to have served in the 1914-1918 war. The only other surviving U.K.-based British veteran of the war, former airman Henry Allingham, died a week ago at age 113. The Ministry of Defense called Patch "the last British survivor of the First World War," although 108-year-old Claude Choules of Australia is believed to have served in the Royal Navy during the conflict. Born in southwest England in 1898, Patch was called up for military service in 1916 when he was working as a teenage apprentice plumber. After training he was sent to the trenches as a machine-gunner in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. A few weeks later, in one of the bloodiest battles of the war at Passchendaele, near the Belgian town of Ypres, he was badly wounded and three of his best friends were killed by a shell explosion. Back at home, he returned to work as a plumber, got married, raised a family and didn't start talking about his war experiences until the 21st century. He outlived three wives and both of his sons. Patch was one of the last living links to "the war to end all wars," which killed about 20 million people in years of brutal fighting between the Allied Powers — including Britain, France, and the United States — and Germany and its allies. Only a handful of veterans remain of the estimated 68 million mobilized. There are no French veterans left alive; the last living American-born veteran is Frank Woodruff Buckles of Charles Town, West Virginia. The man believed to have been Germany's last surviving soldier has also died. In recent years he and his dwindling band of fellow survivors became poignant symbols of the conflict. Last year he, Allingham and British naval veteran Bill Stone attended remembrance ceremonies in London to mark the 90th anniversary of the war's end at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The three frail men in wheelchairs laid wreaths of red poppies at the base of the stone memorial. Stone died in January. At a remembrance ceremony in 2007, Patch said he felt "humbled that I should be representing an entire generation." "Today is not for me. It is for the countless millions who did not come home with their lives intact. They are the heroes," he said. "It is also important we remember those who lost their lives on both sides." Patch said he did not speak about the war for 80 years. But he came to believe the casualties were not justified. "I met someone from the German side and we both shared the same opinion: we fought, we finished and we were friends," he said in 2007. "It wasn't worth it." The Ministry of Defense said Patch's funeral would be held in Wells Cathedral in the town where he lived. It said the service would be "a prayer for peace and reconciliation." The date was not announced. | ||
| Ralph Luther |
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| Subject: RE: Harry Patch, last British WWI soldier, dies at 111 Was it Gen. George Patton that said, "Old soldiers never die. They just fade away". HAND SALUTE Trooper Harry Patch!! Thank you for your Service along with the millions of others that have passed before you and for those to follow.  | |||
| JrKrup, Skimmer |
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Master and Commander Posts: 1323 Location: Oxnard, CA | Subject: RE: Harry Patch, last British WWI soldier, dies at 111 Ralph Luther - 2009-07-25 9:56 PM Was it Gen. George Patton that said, "Old soldiers never die. They just fade away". HAND SALUTE Trooper Harry Patch!! Thank you for your Service along with the millions of others that have passed before you and for those to follow. It was General Douglas McArthur at his retirement speech to the Corps of Cadets at West Point. When General Patton was asked if read the bible, his answer was, "Yes, every Goddamn day!" Patton, unlike McArthur, would have used a different choice of - well, choice words.  Edited by JrKrup, Skimmer 2009-07-25 7:20 PM | ||
| Ralph Luther |
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| Subject: RE: Harry Patch, last British WWI soldier, dies at 111 You are 100% right, Jon, thanks. I remembered it and came here to correct it but ya beat me to it..thanks. | |||
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