The second last trench vetereran has died

The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, has died at the age of 111. (2009/07/25)

Mr Patch was conscripted into the Army aged 18 and fought at Ypres in 1917. He was a machine-gunner in the trenches and served as a private from June to 22 September 1917, when a shell burst over the heads of his five man Lewis gun team. Three of them were blown to pieces while Patch was wounded in the groin by a piece of shrapnel. He was in hospital for 12 months and was convalescing on the Isle of Wight when the Armistice was signed.

Mr Patch returned to Passchendaele in 2007 for the 90th anniversary of the battle, laying a wreath, not only on a memorial for the British dead, but also at a cemetery for the German victims of the offensive. On his 101st birthday he travelled to France where he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, and subsequently made an officer of the Legion d'Honneur. In 2008, he was also honoured by the Belgian king, Albert II, who appointed him Knight of the Order of Leopold.

Patch had no time for the Act of Remembrance on 11 November, an event he described as "just show business". He always maintained that his Remembrance Day was 22 September, the day he lost his three best mates and his war ended.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I had the honour of meeting Harry, and I share his family's grief at the passing of a great man: "I know that the whole nation will unite today to honour the memory, and to take pride in the generation that fought the Great War. The noblest of all the generations has left us, but they will never be forgotten."

A national memorial service should be held as "a special commemoration" of the efforts of Mr Patch and "a generation of people" who fought in World War I, Mr Brown added.

The Ministry of Defence said there would be a funeral cortege through Wells followed by a service at Wells Cathedral.

From BBC

Mr Patch was at the time of his death the oldest man in Europe and the third oldest man in the world, according to the British Ministry of Defence.

Henry Allingham, who served in the navy and the RAF in WWI, died at the age of 113 in July 2009.

Erich Kästner, Germany's last veteran, died 1 January 2008. Franz Künstler (Austria-Hungary), was the last veteran of the Central Powers. He died at age 107 in May 2008.

Lazare Ponticelli received the French state funeral as the last poilu officially recognized by the French government on 17 March 2008. However, the last living French veteran Pierre Picault died 20 November 2008.

The sole British survivor of the war is former seaman Claude Choules, who is aged 108. Choules joined the Navy in 1916 but moved to Australia in 1926.

The last WW1 veteran who saw action at the Western Front is the American Frank Woodruff Buckles, 108 years old. Buckles will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery upon his death. Buckles served as US Army ambulance driver near the Western Front.