Farewell to the Last Tommy: Crowds gather for funeral of World War I veteran Harry Patch
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6th August 2009
The Last Tommy: Harry Patch died on July 25, at the age of 111
In life, he was honoured as the last survivor to have served in the trenches in World War I but in death Harry Patch wanted the focus to be on peace.
So the funeral of the 111-year-old today has been based around his desire for reconciliation, with British soldiers but also Belgian, French and German troops all taking part.
He was determined not to have a military service and so it was - but the weight of his place in history and of a connection with the past now severed forever weighed heavy.
Thousands lined the streets this morning despite the rain to pay their respects to the 'Last Tommy' who for the past year has been the only living link to the trenches.
Inside the historic Wells Cathedral in Somerset, hundreds more members of the public joined the Duchess of Cornwall and top military figures to celebrate his life.
They had queued last week for tickets to the ceremony, which were snapped up in just an hour such was the eagerness to remember the soldier.
Camilla arrived shortly before the service was due to start, joining Veterans Minister Kevan Jones and General Sir Richard Dannatt inside the packed Cathedral.
Born in 1898, Mr Patch was the son of a master builder from a village near Bath. He became an apprentice plumber but then joined the army in 1916.
He became an assistant gunner in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and within six months, he was on the front line.
He fought at the Battle of Passchendaele, where more than 70,000 died. 'If any man tells you he went over the top and he wasn't scared, he's a damn liar,' he once said.
In 2008, he became the only living veteran of any nationality to have served in the trenches and earlier this year, Europe's oldest man.
His death on July 25 came days after fellow veteran Henry Allingham died aged 113, breaking two of the final links with the Great War in the space of a week.
Final journey: The funeral cortege makes its way through the streets as thousands look on before the service at Wells Cathedral =
Bells started to ring out at 11am - 111 chimes, one for each year of Mr Patch's life before the funeral service begins.
At the same time, the funeral cortege left Fletcher House, the care home where the veteran lived for the past 13 years, for his final journey.
The coffin inside was draped in the Union Jack and on top, a simple wreath of poppies that spoke volumes.
Well-wishers and fellow veterans braved the rain as the hearse made its way through the streets, escorted by a vanguard of mounted police and soldiers.
Fire engines and crews - in recognition of Mr Patch's career in the Fire Brigade - lowered their flags as it passed by and bowed their heads.
Six private soldiers of the Rifles Regiment, the successor to his own Regiment acted as pallbearers.
One onlooker Andy Tams had brought his six-year-old son Tolly from Staffordshire so that he could learn about the veterans' sacrifices.
'I felt it right to come along and pay our respects and say goodbye. We have just come back from Normandy for the D-Day anniversary,' he said.
'I wanted to keep my son's interest alive. Harry Patch represented the end of an era. It is part of the UK that is now lost.'
Before the service began, Andrew Larpent from the Somerset Care Group said: 'Harry declined the offer of a state funeral, as he said it wasn't really his way but I think he would have been very touched that so many Somerset people have turned out to pay their respects to him.
'He used his fame to share a message of peace and reconciliation and it is right that this message is reflected in the service.'
He added: 'I will always remember Harry as a man who always looked smart, an old soldier who was very proud of his regiment and his military service. Whenever I saw him, he was always wearing his medals, regimental cap badge and regimental tie.'
Send-off: A fellow veteran holds today's order of service
Marie France Andre, charge d'affaires from the Belgian Embassy, read an extract from his book about how a dying German soldiers' cry of 'mother' when he was dying connvinced him there was life after death.
'He was ripped open from his shoulder to his waist by shrapnel and lying in a pool of blood. When we got to him, he looked at us and said "shoot me",' it said.
'The final word he uttered was "mother". I was with him in the last seconds of his life. It wasn't a cry of despair it was a cry of surprise and joy.
'From that day I have always remembered that cry and that death is not the end. I remember that lad in particular. It's an image that has haunted me all my life, seared into my mind.'
The Cathedral choir then sang Where Have All The Flowers Gone - which was chosen by Mr Patch's grandson to recognise the futility of war.
As a machine-gunner, it was Mr Patch's terrifying job to carry and assemble the spare parts of the gun and make sure it worked.
A shrapnel wound in 1917 ended his war and he was so traumatised that he would refuse to talk about his experiences until the final years of his life.
Finally, in the late 90s, when he had already turned 100, he opened up and from then on did his best to keep the memory alive in honour of his fallen comrades.
He told a documentary in 2003: 'Any one of them could have been me. Millions of men came to fight in this war and I find it incredible that I am the only one left.'
During his convalescence, he met first wife Ada in 1918 and they were married for almost 60 years. Mr Patch outlived both their sons, Dennis and Roy.
Once the war ended, the soldier went back to plumbing. Too old for World War II, he became a maintenance manager at a U.S. army camp and joined the Auxiliary Fire Service, tackling fires started by German bombs.
He worked until 1963 and then married again at 81 after Ada died in 1976. His second wife Jean died four years later and Mr Patch moved into a home in Wells in 1996 where he met his third partner, Doris.
Link to history: (from left) Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110 and Bill Stone, 108, at the Cenotaph on Armistice Day last year
Once he broke his silence over the Great War, he launched poppy appeals and even became an agony uncle columnist for lads magazine FHM. In 1999, he received the Legion D'Honneur with other veterans.
Read more:
Thousands pay their respects at funeral of World War I veteran Harry Patch | Mail Online
