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WWI Veteran And World's Oldest Man Passes Into History

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Bianca
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« on: July 19, 2009, 01:54:12 pm »



Mr. Allingham with his greatgrandaughter










                                                After 113 remarkable years Henry Allingham,


                                                the world's oldest man, passes into history





By Jonathan Petre
and Richard Creasy
DailyMail
19th July 2009

First World War veteran Henry Allingham, who became the world's oldest man last month,
has died at the age of 113.

As tributes poured in, Lord's cricket ground fell silent at the start of play in the Ashes match between
England and Australia as a mark of respect for Mr Allingham, who died in his sleep early yesterday morning.

He was one of the last three surviving British veterans of the First World War, the last surviving founder member
of the RAF, the last man to have witnessed the Battle of Jutland and the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service.

 Legacy: Henry Allingham with his great-granddaughter Ami Gray and her daughter, two-year-old Lauren, in 2006
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: 'He was a tremendous character, one of the last representatives of a generation of tremendous characters.'

The Queen said he was 'one of the generation who sacrificed so much for us all'.

A Clarence House spokesman said: 'The Prince of Wales was sad to hear of the death of Henry Allingham. Henry belonged to that incredible generation who did so much for their country and we owe him a huge debt.'
« Last Edit: July 19, 2009, 01:59:22 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2009, 02:00:55 pm »



Changing times: Henry Allingham as a baby in 1896






In the foreword to Mr Allingham's autobiography, Kitchener's Last Volunteer, Prince Charles wrote in 2008: 'He has witnessed so much of our history - including the sinking of the Titanic, the Great War, the Depression, the Second World War and the building of the Welfare State - taking in six of my forebears, as well as 21 Prime Ministers.

'We should all be humbled by this quiet, genial man and his desire to extol peace and friendship to the world, despite all the horrors he witnessed at such a young and impressionable age.'
« Last Edit: July 19, 2009, 02:02:37 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2009, 02:03:55 pm »



So long ago: Henry Allingham wearing a sailor suit as a boy






Born in East London in 1896, Mr Allingham was married to his late wife Dorothy for more than 50 years.

They had five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great-grandchildren and one great-great-great-grandchild.

The veteran, who was being cared for at St Dunstan's care home in Ovingdean, near Brighton, celebrated his 113th birthday on June 6 with his family on board London's  HMS President.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2009, 02:05:44 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2009, 02:07:11 pm »



Young love: Mr Allingham pictured with fiancee Dorothy May in 1916. The couple were married for more than 50 years





 
Two weeks later, Guinness World Records confirmed that he had become the world's oldest man after the previous record holder, Tomoji Tanabe, died in Japan aged 113.

Mr Allingham once jokingly attributed his longevity to 'cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women'.

But he later admitted that he had taken care of himself, adding: 'The trick is to look after yourself and always know your limitations.'
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« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2009, 02:09:57 pm »



Mr Allingham lays a wreath at the Air Services Memorial, in St.Omer, France, during an Armistice Day Service in 2005






Mr Allingham's death means that Harry Patch, 111, the last survivor of the First World War trenches, is now Britain's oldest man.

Nicknamed 'the last Tommy', Mr Patch is a veteran of the 1917 battle of Passchendaele in which more than 70,000 British troops were killed.


He now lives at a residential home in Somerset.The other remaining First World War survivor, Worcestershire-born 108-year-old Claude Choules, who served with the Royal Navy, now lives in Australia.
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« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2009, 02:12:45 pm »



Queen Elizabeth meets Mr Allingham at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party in 2007






Mr Allingham tried to join the Army in 1914 but his mother, who was ill, persuaded him to stay at home and nurse her. She died a year later and he then joined the Royal Naval Air Service. In May 1916, he survived the battle of Jutland which claimed 6,000 lives.

In 1917, he was posted to the Western Front and found himself in the trenches at Ypres, where his job was neutralising bombs left behind by the Germans. He later said he could never forget the smell of mud and rotting flesh.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2009, 02:14:33 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2009, 02:23:10 pm »



Emotional moment: A tear is wiped away from Mr Allingham's eye at a service to mark the 90th anniversary of the Great War Armistice






He once told the BBC: 'War's stupid. Nobody wins. You might as well talk first. You have to talk last, anyway.'

In 1918 he transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force and after the war he worked for the Ford Motor Company until his retirement.

He buried his war memories for decades - refusing even to discuss them with his family - and he would not go to reunions organised by his former comrades.
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« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2009, 02:26:09 pm »



Inspiration:

RAF air cadets chat to Mr Allingham (with grandson David Gray and his wife Charlotte Gray)






But in 2005, he was asked to unveil an RAF memorial in France and he decided that it would be disrespectful to refuse.

He then became a tireless campaigner, attending commemorative events including the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

Even after he moved to St Dunstan's care home when he was 108, because his sight and hearing were failing, Mr Allingham insisted on visiting schools to tell youngsters about his wartime experiences.
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« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2009, 02:29:07 pm »



World war heroes: Allingham (right) and 106 year old William Stone (second left) meet senior members of the defence staff at the Ministry of Defence in 2007






Robert Leader of the St Dunstan's charity, which supports visually impaired ex-Servicemen and women, said: 'He was very active right up to his final days.
'As well as possessing a great spirit of fun, he represented the last of a generation who gave a very great deal for us.'

Dennis Goodwin, from the First World War Veterans' Association, who regularly visited Mr Allingham at St Dunstan's, said he had lost 'an exceptionally good friend'.
He added: 'He has left quite a legacy to the nation of memories of what it was like to have been in the First World War.'

The funeral will take place later this month as St Nicholas's Church in Brighton.
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« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2009, 02:32:24 pm »



Three British veterans of World War II: Harry Patch, of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (left), William Stine (centre) of the Royal Navy and Mr Allingham (right), at a reception for British military veterans in 2006



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1200516
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« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2009, 03:22:39 pm »



Allingham In 2004,
at the 90th anniversary commemoration of the commencement of the Great War










                                                 Air Mechanic Henry Allingham



     Air Mechanic Henry Allingham, who died on Saturday aged 113, was considered the world's oldest man

      and the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland and of the Royal Naval Air Service; he was also haunted

                          by nightmarish memories of falling into a trench on the Western Front.
 





Telegraph.co.uk
19 Jul 2009

With a clear mind until his own death, Allingham could recall the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Wright brothers' first flight, and seeing WG Grace bat at the Oval in July 1903 – when he scored 15 and 19 in each innings.

His experience of the trenches came was when he was looking to salvage spares from the remains of aircraft that had been shot down. "We were moving forward at night," he would recall. "I was very apprehensive. It was dark. One of those nights you got where the night time seems to surround you. There were booby traps everywhere."

Suddenly his foothold gave way: "I fell into a shell hole. It was full of arms, legs, ears, dead rats – a lot of dead, rotten flesh. I was up to my armpits in water. I can't describe the smell of flesh and mud mixed up together. I turned to my left, and that's what saved me. It got shallower to the left, and I was able to lift myself out of the water. I lay there in the dark, not daring to move, cold and with my uniform stinking. I was frightened. I was scared. I was so relieved when it finally got light and I could move."

Despite such a gruesome experience, Allingham counted himself fortunate: "I think I had an angel hanging over my shoulders. I still do, I hope."

Henry Allingham was born on June 6 1896 at Clapham, South London. His father died when he was 14 months old and his mother and grandparents brought him up. He attended the London County Council School in South Lambert Road, which he left to become a trainee surgical instrument-maker at St Bartholomew's Hospital. The work was uninteresting however, and he soon moved to a coachbuilder specialising in car bodies for Foden and Scammel.

Allingham tried to enlist on August 3 1914. But when he turned up at the Royal Engineers' recruiting office in Piccadilly, desperate to be a dispatch rider, he found 200 other men in a queue in front of him.

Even though he had his own Triumph motorbike, he was told there was no chance. He was persuaded by his mother's ill health to stay at home for a few more months, but after she died, he saw an aircraft over Chingford, and thought "That's for me."

Joining the Royal Naval Air Service, he was rated Mechanic First Class on September 21 1915, and sent to Sheerness to complete his training with 14 other recruits, including two Australians, a New Zealander and an American.

Stationed for two years at Great Yarmouth, Allingham maintained seaplanes, but frequently cadged rides in aircraft, occasionally sitting in the navigator's seat on fights over the North Sea. Later, at Bacton, Norfolk, he lit flares to make landing strips for night fighters which were hunting German airships. Among the pilots whom Allingham remembered with great affection were Lieutenant Egbert Cadbury, DSC, DFC, and his commanding officers Lieutenant-Commander Wyndor de Courcy Ireland and Lieutenant-Commander Douglas "Snakey" Oliver. He recalled watching Oliver win the DSO in June 1916 for his single-handed attack on German cruisers which were shelling Great Yarmouth; on another occasion, he helped Christopher Wood tie himself into a BE2c so that he could loop the first loop.

Allingham was disappointed when King George V, on a visit to the station, spoke to several sailors but never got to him in the line. He undertook several patrols in seaplane tenders which each carried a Tabloid, a small aircraft Tommy Sopwith had designed to win the Schneider trophy race in 1914. In naval service, the Tabloid had a detachable rear fuselage which Allingham had to assemble before hoisting out the aircraft on a derrick for take-off.

On patrols Allingham liked the paddle steamer Brocklesbury, which had better accommodation than trawlers, where the bunks were in the fish-hold.
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« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2009, 03:29:55 pm »










On May 31 1916, at what turned out to be the largest naval battle of the Great War, with battleships from both sides in direct confrontation, he was in the armed trawler Kingfisher, whose seaplane was shadowing the German High Seas Fleet. His memories were of British Dreadnoughts steaming past with their huge bow-waves, followed by the whole fleet, line astern. The shells from the Germans came straight for his ship, but bounced right over the top "like ducks-and-drakes". Allingham was not aware that he had taken part in the epic battle until Kingfisher returned to Great Yarmouth, where he heard the vicar offer a prayer of thanks for the "great victory of Jutland".

In June 1917 he helped form 12 Naval Air Squadron, flying Sopwith Pups, Triplanes and Camels, and was sent to France among reinforcements for the Western Front. 12 NAS was a training squadron, based at Petit Synthe, which in November became involved in operations over Passchendaele, the third major offensive of Ypres.

He remembered "dotting around places like Hellfire Corner, Plugstreet [Ploegstert] and Pop [Poperinghe] looking for the remains of aircraft that had been shot down". It was on one of these visits to the trenches that he fell into a shell hole at night.

Allingham became a founding member of the Royal Air Force, with the service number 208317, when that service was formed on April 1 1918, but wrote years later that "I still considered myself a Navy man".

He spent Christmas 1918 billeted with a German family on the Rhine but was discharged three months later.

He then worked in the motor industry until his retirement. During the Second World War, this was a reserved occupation. He tried to forget his wartime memories, never going to reunions or joining old comrades' associations until 2003, when he was asked to lead the parade at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph.

As a concession to his age he was allowed to ride down Whitehall in an open-top 1911 Austin car at the head of former Servicemen and women who marched silently past the monument to the Glorious Dead. He was awarded the Légion d'Honneur to add to his 1918 Victory and 1914-1918 campaign medals.

Wearing what had become his trademark crimson bow tie the following year, Allingham was applauded by the crowd as he insisted on standing to place a wreath, with only a little help from his escort. He also crossed the Channel for the first time in 85 years to unveil a memorial to those who fell on the 90th anniversary of the war that was supposed to end all wars. "I never went back," he said. "I wanted to forget it. I did forget. But, of course, there are some things you can never forget. The veterans' association asked me if I would go back. I didn't want to show any disrespect to my old pals. I had to go for them." He was presented with a gold medal and the freedom of St Omer.

Henry Allingham outlived his wife Dorothy Cater, whom he married in 1918. He also outlived their two daughters; his grandchildren tried to persuade him to move to United States, but he insisted on remaining in his tidy flat overlooking the front at Eastbourne, saying "I love England."

He would attribute his longevity to "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women" then add that there had only been one woman for him – his beloved wife, who died in 1970.



Published July 19 2009
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