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

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.