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harry patch age 109 years old

  • Thread starter Thread starter billc
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billc

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here are a few photos my son has taken at the menin gate with harry patch in the wheelchair.he is one of the last surviving soldiers from the Great war.
Another photo is of joseph goldsburys name on the tynecott cemetary memorial. joseph goldsbury was a relation of ours.my son took 239 photos while he was in belgium.of which i can put on here if anyone wants to see them.
they are taken at various places around ypres


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Great photo's Bill, The message is very poinient from someone who served.
 
Wonderful old fellow ....I spent some time with in his nursing home in Devon ...
 
Hi Billc

I to think they are smashing photos of the chap & what a marvelous age

All the very best

Phil
Somerset
 
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Harry Patch age 109

I saw Harry on the TV a couple of days ago, and to me he represents all those brave young men who went to war.
My own granddad was with the 15th Btn Royal Warwicks and he was also at the 3rd Battle of Ypres, (also known as Passchendaele). The conditions were truly awful, a sea of liquid mud, peppered with water-filled shell craters, containing all manner of rotting remains.
Harry's descriptions of incidents he experienced help us to understand a little of the horrors his generation endured. We must never forget.
There is an account of the actions in which the 15th Royal Warwicks took part on the Midlands Historical Data website. It's worth looking at.
Spooner
 
Spooner, I watched the programme last year and found Harry's account very moving. I also thought he had a wonderful philosophy on life for a man of such a great age.......perhaps life's experience made him this way. A wonderful gentleman as were the others in the programme.
 
Theres been quite a bit on the local news about Harry as well - I'm in BBC West area by the way

All the very best

Phil
Weston-super-Mare
 
Happy 110th Birthday Harry such an amazing gentleman.

:MusicMarchingBand:
 
My son gave me a book for fathers day about Harry Patches life, isbn number is 978-0-7475-9336-2 its called The Last Fighting Tommy.
 
Harry Patch the only living army survivor from the first world war, was honoured with the freedom of the City of Wells to-day.
 
I thought that I had seen something about Harry Patch recently, and could not remember where.

Possibly the bbc and this web site , and feel that he should always be remembered. When I can I intend to read more about this remarkable man.

I was born in the 1950's but am aware and have so much respect for all who went through so much to give the likes of me a better life.
 
Most definitely Harry should be remembered. If you Google his name there is a lot about him. It seems he didn't talk about his experiences in WW1 until he was 100 years old! That was ten years ago. What a life and still going.
 
Jenny ann

Thanks for your reply , I do feel quite strongly about things like this. WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET.

Hopefully the generations to follow will appreciate what has been going on in more recent times to help them to progress.
 
I agree totally Shady. I lost my Uncle William in the WW1...went over the top and took a bullet in the head in September, 1915. We have his cap badge, practically melted by the bullet, medals and letters from his Commanding Officer to my Grandmother. I have a photo of him in my home office with a poppy resting on the frame.
The poppies are on sale now and I will probably buy three or four before November 11th. In Canada this is a special day. In Western Canada where I live it is a provincial holiday. There is always a parade and every year more people attend. The men and women who served in WW2 especially are fewer and fewer every year.
 
Here the 11th November is always a national holiday to remember the end of WWI. We don't have poppies for sale but every year there is a collection for some charity. The collection goes by the name 11-11-11 (11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the end of WWI) the last post is played by a trumpeter every evening at the Menin Gate, Ypers in the West Flanders. Graham.

[ame="https://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=mgEmeShjxpM"]YouTube - Ypres / Tyne Cot / Menin Gate - The Last Post Ceremony[/ame]​
 
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The world's last surviving woman veteran of the First World War has died aged 109, 30/09/08
Gladys Powers was just 15 when she volunteered as a barrack waitress in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps.
She lied she was two years older so she could serve and later transferred to the Women's Royal Air Force.
Veterans Minister Derek Twigg said yesterday: "I am saddened to learn of Gladys's death. Over 80,000 women served in our Armed Forces during the First World War
"Although they may not have realised it at the time, they did much to break down the barriers for all those service-women who have come after them and who continue to serve their country today."
Gladys, who was born in Lewisham, South London, wrote about her experiences in her memoirs. But few records of First World War service-women survived the 1940's Blitz, making it impossible to confirm her time in the forces.
She married Canadian soldier Ed Luxford after the war and went to live in Canada. She later divorced and went on to marry three more times.
Daughter-in-law Pat Powers said: "I'll bet she's happy where she is." Gladys died peacefully after breaking her hip at her rest home in British Colombia on August 14. With thanks to the Daily Mirror. Len.
 
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