UK/FILE: Britain's oldest WWI veteran to commemorate 90th anniverary since the end of the war

Record ID: 726128

  • Title: UK/FILE: Britain's oldest WWI veteran to commemorate 90th anniverary since the end of the war
  • Date: 11th November 2008
  • Summary: (W4) RIVER SOMME DISTRICT, FRANCE (FILE - 1916) (REUTERS) GERMAN MACHINE GUNNERS ALLIED TROOPS GOING 'OVER THE TOP' ALLIED ARTILLERY FIRE VARIOUS TANKS AND ADVANCING TROOPS ON BATTLEFIELD VARIOUS OF ARTILLERY FIRING TRENCHES
  • Embargoed: 26th November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: History
  • Reuters ID: LVA8SYA2ZSTMPLP2KBJFEOKFY3IC
  • Story Text: Britain's oldest World War One veteran prepares to commemorate the 90th anniversary since the end of the war.
    On November 11 1918, the Allies of World War One and Germany signed an armistice, which put an end to a war supposed to end all wars. On Tuesday (November 11), three British World War One veterans will lay wreaths at the Cenotaph monument in central London to commemorate the 90th anniversary since the end of the war and to remember the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives.
    Henry Allingham -- the world's oldest World War One veteran at 112 and the UK's oldest man -- is preparing for the event which he holds particularly dear.
    The veteran, who is partially deaf and nearly blind, was born in London on June 6, 1896 and lives in a home for blind ex-servicemen in the south of England.
    He says he would like to forget the horrors of a war he fought nine decades ago - but can't.

    "Well, it was a time, that I recall, I saw too many things I would like to forget but I will never forget them, I never can forget them," Allingham told Reuters ahead of Armistice Day commemorations in London on Tuesday (November 11).

    "I recall my past and I know what that means, but I'm glad to do that so that people who know that we go on, but we have so much to thank them for," said Allingham.
    Allingham is the last survivor of the historic naval Battle of Jutland in 1916 and also fought at the Somme in France.
    The veteran tells the story where he survived bombing and shelling in Ypres.

    "I got there and I fell in that big shell hole. It stank. Arms legs, everything, human flesh, blown to pieces, feet, hands -- terrible. If I had moved to the right, I wouldn't have been here now," Allingham said.
    Allingham, who speaks regularly to school children about the his war experiences, says that future generations will need to cooperate and hopes the world will never witness a war like the one he fought.

    "They got to sit down, there'll be no war like that, I hope it stays there, I doubt that it will but I hope it does. I hope there'll be no war, pray that in the whole world there'll be no war, nobody wins the next war - nobody," he said.
    Allingham has said he has dedicated the rest of his life to keeping the memory of the Great War alive. He also released an autobiography last September with the hope that, as the last of the World War One veterans disappear, his story will continue to live on.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register