Last UK veteran of WWI trench battles dies at 111

[aussiewannabe]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07 ... index.html

[Fozzer]

..and the Hell where he and his Comrades lived, fought, and died in the mud...>>>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele

.....lest ye forget...

Paul.

[ShaneG_old]

He earned every year of that long life.

RIP

[ozzy72]

A life well lived, RIP

[SubZer0]

Another sad loss RIP

[Ang2dogs]

R.I.P.

[Romulus111VADT]

RIP.....

[Steve M]

Our forefathers are leaving us too quickly. Rest in peace, Sir.  

[BigTruck]

Wow, 111!  Get some rest sir, you earned it.

[tcco94]

I remember hearing not long ago about how he was the last one from WWI....
Rest In Peace, you will always be remembered

[a1]

Rest in Peace,

It is sad to see these people pass away. WW1 will nothing more than a memory to some and a chapter in a text book to the future generations.

[Fozzer]

Rest in Peace,

It is sad to see these people pass away. WW1 will nothing more than a memory to some and a chapter in a text book to the future generations.

You look at some of the horrors in those photo's from WWI, involving both sides of the conflict...>>>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele

...and you wonder how anyone could be so stupid as to start/get involved in another War...

..but, as History dictates, we never, ever, learn!

I have two very large, hard-backed books of black-and-white Photographs taken on the muddy, tree-less, corpse-filled, battle fields, hospitals, etc at the time....

The only thing missing, is the smell of Death....

...and those horrendous pictures have remained burnt into my memory all my life..!

Paul....

[Hagar]

I think Harry Patch would have been the first to point out how lucky he was to survive the carnage of that awful battle when so many of his comrades would never return. Like so many others he was a conscript who had no alternative but to go & fight. What astounds me is that he & some of the other WWI veterans not only survived but went on to live for much longer than the average man. Certainly longer than I expect to. 111 is not a bad innings by any standards. I'm not sure that I wish to live that long anyway.

I'm going on a little trip to the WWI battlefields this year to pay my respects to those less fortunate before it's too late. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. The statistics are staggering.

More than any other battle, Passchendaele has come to symbolise the horrific nature of the great battles of the First World War. In terms of the dead, the Germans lost approximately 260,000 men, while the British Empire forces lost about 300,000, including approximately 36,500 Australians, 3,596 New Zealanders and some 16,000 Canadians from 1915 to 1917. 90,000 British and Dominion bodies were never identified, and 42,000 never recovered.

Harry Patch is quoted as saying; "Too many died. War isn't worth one life" . He said war was the "calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings".

[C]

RIP.

Just Claude Choules left now from any of the British services during the period.

[commoner]

....Bless 'im.....wonder if he was a cricketer in his life...the number 111 is considered unlucky in our noble game...looks too much like three stumps with the bails off......that means your OUT!

In other circles it's called a "Nelson" after another old warrior.....the great Admiral...some say because he had One eye..One arm" and One Ball or Leg or whatever you like...I like the saying that it represents his three great victories "WON" WON" WON"

But as Hagar said.."111 is not a bad innings by any standards." and I hope he rests in peace...he earned it.....

Commoner.