Last surviving veteran of the BEF in WWI, Harry Patch, dead at 111

[SidneyCarton]

Harry Patch, the last surviving veteran of the British Expeditionary Forces in the First World War is dead. He was the last survivor of the battle of Passchendaele (3rd Ypres). With him that war passes out of living memory for the British. There are now only 3 recorded survivors of WWI, one British (Royal Navy) one Canadian, and one American, Frank Buckles of Charlestown, WV, who drove ambulances for the U.S. Army in France.

Mr. Patch did not talk about his experiences in the army until the age of 100, and decried the awful loss of life and horrors which he personally experienced as a machine-gunner on one of the bloodiest battles of the Western Front.

More at the link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090725/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_obit_patch

Goodbye old soldier, may you find peace with your comrades who have already "gone west"

:patriot: