Oldest WWI survivors join commemorations on Remembrance Day, pay tribute to fallen millions in 1st, 2nd World Wars

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This year’s Armistice Day anniversary, com- memorating the millions of lives lost in the so-called War to End All Wars, comes 90 years after the guns fell silent in 1918. Anyone who was a part of it would have to be at least 108 by now. Astonishingly, there are still three men who fit the bill, three survivors who were in uniform 90 years ago as the First World War drew to a close. Yesterday, this trio marked Remembrance Sunday to the best of their abilities.

The men - all well into their 100s - will attend a service at the Cenotaph in central London. Harry Patch, 110, a veteran of the horrors of Passchendaele, is the only survivor of the trenches. He ignored the rain and attended a parade at Wells, near his Somerset home. Allingham, Britain's oldest man at the age of 112, was an aircraft mechanic who saw action at sea, in the Battle of Jutland, and ashore on the Western Front. Bill Stone, a young pup of 108, ended up fighting two World Wars for the Royal Navy. Today, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, all three men will be on parade in London at the Cenotaph to mark the exact moment when the guns fell silent. Of the five million men and women who served in Britain's armed forces in the war, only four are still alive. The other surviving veteran, Claude Choules, 107, lives in Australia and will mark the 90th anniversary at local events there.

But someone is going to have to clear a path through all the wreaths first. Yesterday, as ever, the Queen was at the Cenotaph to lead the nation in the traditional Remembrance Sunday tribute to all those who have given their lives in the service of the Armed Forces. By the time the proceedings were over, Whitehall was thick with poppies and cards. No one alive has attended this ceremony more times than the Queen and it was she, of course, who laid the first wreath followed by the senior members of the Royal Family.

To their right stood the political ranks from which the party leaders stepped forward to lay their wreaths. Former prime ministers are always invited and a frail-looking Lady Thatcher was helped by Sir John Major. Tony Blair was elsewhere.

Once the VIPs had retired from the scene, the path was clear for the Royal British Legion's parade of 8,500 veterans and 1,500 civilians. This wonderful spectacle - always moving, always slightly unpredictable given the ages of the participants - was applauded from start to finish by the crowds.

First on parade were members of the Royal Air Force Association in recognition of yet another anniversary. This year, of course, is the 90th birthday of the RAF. Among those marching was former Sergeant George Brookes, 88, from Purley, who spent much of the Second World War in a Lancaster bomber. He always marches in memory of a school chum: 'I think of my old friend Paul Westcott. He was air crew, like me, but he never came home.' Every RAF generation was included. Alan Dudley, 70, was marching with National Service chums from 751 Signals Unit which served in Cyprus during the troubles of the Fifties. Six of his team were killed by insurgents. 'It's such an honour to be doing this - and we all like to keep in touch,' he said.

Never expecting to be one of the last survivors of that generation, Mr Allingham sees it as his duty to preserve the memory of those who died in the Great War while he is alive. "That's why I go on," he said. "The children must not be left and not know what so many good men have done for them, on their behalf, on my behalf on your behalf. ... I want everyone to know, they died for us." Mr. Allingham doesn't talk much about other wars. But he does say in his memoir, Kitchener's Last Volunteer, that he feels sorry for young soldiers fighting in Iraq. "It was not the same in my war," he says. "We were fighting for our country and our homes. ... We had a lot more to lose if we failed. We have to pray it never happens again."

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Photos courtesy of Sky News, Getty Images, PA, Telegraph UK, Mark Large, and Mail Online

Original Source: Sky News, Daily Mail, Telegraph UK, and Dallas News

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