Then There Were Two

Another sad posting.  A couple of weeks ago I listed a dozen of the books I read last year that I really enjoyed.  One was Kitchener’s Last Volunteer, about Henry Allingham, the oldest surviving British First World War veterans.  I remarked that he was one of just three.  Well, now he is one of only two.  Bill Stone (born 1900) died a couple of days ago.

That leaves Henry Allingham (born 1896) and Harry Patch (born 1898).  Henry Allingham joined the Royal Naval Air Service and Harry Patch was a private in the infantry. As far as I know, he is the last man left alive, in any country, who fought in the trenches of the Western Front.  When the last of these gentlemen dies, and sadly that day will probably not be long in coming, there will be a memorial service, attended by the Royal family, the government, service chiefs, foreign ambassadors etc, to commemorate ALL the men who fought in that war, and the million British servicemen who died in it.  Then the first of, we hope, only two world wars will pass into history, to be remembered only through books, photographs, newsreels and preserved reminiscences – but never, one trusts, to be forgotten.
.

Comments

[samulli]

Wow, I'm actually impressed with how old they got to be. Incredible.
I guess if I ever make it to 106 I will count myself lucky. I never really thought about it, but if you'd asked me I would've thought all those people were dead already.

[Alice Audrey]

It's sad to lose the living heritage, but at the same time it's a relief that we have - as a race - made it this far through the years. At all.