The Last Of The Old Brigade

Harry Patch, the very last of our World War 1 veterans passed away today at the age of 111. His death comes just a week after the passing of Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man who was also a veteran.

Harry would always point out that countless Germans died in that war and he honoured them as well.

I myself have always believed that nobody wins a war - it is simply that one side loses more than the other. I wonder if Harry felt the same, he probably did. He never got over what he experienced, right to the end.

We shall not see their like again. With Harry's death passes the last link with the trenches, the rats, the mud, the stench, trench foot, trench fever, gas attacks and the millions of senseless deaths.

Only one survivor remains now in Australia.

They were a generation of men who did not realise what they were walking into. Many treated it as an adventure, a chance to go abroad. It was a war that was going to be over so quickly. It was the war to end all wars. Sadly this has not been the case.

We owe all these men a huge debt of gratitude. The best thing we can do in their name is strive for peace, an end to fighting between nations, an end to religious bigotry and hatred.

I salute Harry as I saluted Henry Allingham. All the old comrades together again. The chapter is finally closed. The book is finished. But we must never lay it completely aside, we must never forget.

I wore a tunic, a lousy khaki tunic,
And you wore your civvy clothes.
We fought and bled at Loos
While you were home on the booze
The booze that no one here knows.
Oh you were with the wenches
While we were in the trenches
Facing an angry foe.
Oh you were a-slacking
While we were attacking
The Jerry on the Menin Road.


Harry told his story in the book "The Last Fighting Tommy" - Harry Patch of the Trenches. It is still available.