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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Henry Allingham, veteran of WW1, r.i.p.

Henry Allingham, British first world war veteran, dies at 113: "Henry William Allingham, the world's oldest man and one of the last surviving first world war servicemen, has died at the age of 113. Born in 1896 to an ironmonger's wife in a corner of north-east London, the veteran, whose life spanned three centuries and six monarchs, was 67 when John F Kennedy was assassinated and 73 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. He [...] was 14 when the war broke out. His mother begged him not to join the military, but a year after her death in 1915 he signed up. [...] At the time of his death, he was 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"

Not only the world's oldest man but a fine example of somebody whose mind seemed to remain in working order whenever interviewed on the television.

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