Last of the breed

[caddyman]

I have celebrated the discovery that I am not as skint as I thought I was by acquiring a copy of The Last Fighting Tommy by Harry Patch with Richard Van Emden.

It is the story of the life of Harry patch, now aged 110, Britain's second oldest man and the only surviving British veteran of The Trenches. Harry fought in the Battle of Paschendale (3rd Battle of Ypres) in 1917. His chances of surviving a week in that battle were less than his chances at the age of 110, of still being alive a week from now.



I shall enjoy reading the extraordinary story of an ordinary man.

Comments

Last of the Breed

[mezzogiornouno.livejournal.com]

Have you read Last Post by Max Arthur? It's a collection of reminiscences by what were then (a few years ago when the book was written - 5 years?)the last dozen or so remaining veterans. Now its just Messrs Patch and Allington (or are there others?).

Re: Last of the Breed

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia lists a dozen verified WW1 veterans world wide and another 3 unverified. There are 4 surviving veterans of that era who didn't actually fight: i.e. they joined up after the Armitice but before the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war.

Nineteen in total; all from the various Allied nations, none from the Central Powers.

[ladkyis.livejournal.com]

I believe Harry Patch is the last of the fighting Tommies - the others didn't see active service for some reason or were in a different arm of the service.

[ladkyis.livejournal.com]

B8gg*r you can't edit - tommies were british soldiers, incase anyone didn't know

found under "passchendaele" in Wikipedia

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

I fell in a trench. There was a fella there. He must have been about our age. He was ripped shoulder to waist with shrapnel. I held his hand for the last 60 seconds of his life. He only said one word: 'Mother'. I didn't see her, but she was there. No doubt about it. He passed from this life into the next, and it felt as if I was in God's presence. I've never got over it. You never forget it. Never.

—Harry Patch, last living survivor of Passchendaele, 12/07/2007

Some of the boys buried here are the same age as me, killed on the same day I was fighting. Anyone of them could have been me. I didn't know whether I would last longer than 5 minutes. We were the Poor Bloody Infantry and we were expendable. What a terrible waste.

—Harry Patch 29/7/07[7]

Now I want to read it too.