Britain's last World War I veteran laid to rest in Cathedral ceremony

Aug 6, 2009, 13:20 GMT

   London - The funeral took place in Britain Thursday of Harry Patch, Britain's 111-year old veteran of World War I - whose experiences in the trenches led him to condemn all warfare.

   Patch, known as the Last Tommy after the title of his autobiography, died on July 25 in a care home in the county of Somerset, south-west Britain.

   On Thursday, thousands lined the streets of his home town of Wells to watch the funeral procession ahead of a service in its famous cathedral, followed by a private burial.

   Patch had declined a state funeral before he died, and said that the only lessons to be drawn from the 'organized murder' of war were those of peace and reconciliation.

   His coffin, draped in a Union flag and carrying a single wreath of red roses, was borne by soldiers of the armed forces of Britain, Belgium, France and Germany - in line with his wishes.

   Observers said even ceremonial weapons were banned from the ceremony at his request.

   In 2004, Patch underlined his commitment to reconciliation by meeting with Charles Kuentz, a German World War I veteran who fought on the opposing side.

   Patch, a plumber by profession, served as an assistant gunner at the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, in which some half a million men died on both sides.

   Representatives of the embassies of Belgium, France and Germany read lessons at the funeral service as well as reading extracts from his book, The Last Tommy.

   The anti-war anthem Where Have all the Flowers Gone was played to show Patch's antipathy to violent conflict.

   His passing, and that of World War I veteran Henry Allingham, also in July, leaves 108-year-old Claude Choules, who lives in Australia, as the last British-born survivor of the Great War.