Warfare in News
Posted on Wednesday 25th July
On 25 July 2009, Britain's last Tommy, Harry Patch, passed away aged 111.
Henry 'Harry' John Patch was born on 17 June 1898 in a small village near Bath and worked as an apprentice plumber after leaving school at 15, before being conscripted into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry at the age of 18.
Harry arrived on the Western Front in the summer of 1917 and went over the top at the Passchendaele offensive, during which he was badly injured and spent the rest of the war in hospital or convalescing.
Harry chose not to speak about his war experiences until he agreed to a television interview in 1998 at the age of 100, and collaborated with Richard Van Emden on his first book, The Last Fighting Tommy, becoming the UK's oldest author.
In 2005, Harry was featured in Richard Van Emden's Britain's Last Tommies - the culmination of 20 years' work interviewing the Great War's last surviving veterans.
Henry 'Harry' John Patch was born on 17 June 1898 in a small village near Bath and worked as an apprentice plumber after leaving school at 15, before being conscripted into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry at the age of 18.
Harry arrived on the Western Front in the summer of 1917 and went over the top at the Passchendaele offensive, during which he was badly injured and spent the rest of the war in hospital or convalescing.
Harry chose not to speak about his war experiences until he agreed to a television interview in 1998 at the age of 100, and collaborated with Richard Van Emden on his first book, The Last Fighting Tommy, becoming the UK's oldest author.
In 2005, Harry was featured in Richard Van Emden's Britain's Last Tommies - the culmination of 20 years' work interviewing the Great War's last surviving veterans.
Further Reading
Only £19.99
Author signed copies of Britain's Last Tommies
(Hardback)by Richard Van Emden
The First World War as a living history is to all intents and purposes over. As of today February 2009, there are only two veterans from six million alive who served on the Western Front. Richard has spent the last 20 years interviewing and carefully recording the memories of over 270 veterans and this book is a culmination of his 20 years of work. The book will be an extraordinary collection of stories told by… Read more...
Of further interest...
Britain's Last Tommies at Passchendaele
Tue 31st JulyFinal memories from soldiers of the 1914-1918 war in their own words. Extracted from Britain's Last Tommies by Richard van Emden, Read article...
Ypres - The Fall of Passchendaele
Wed 31st OctoberA look at the fall of Passchendaele and the end of the Third Battle of Ypres, extracted from Passchendaele – The Fight for the Village by Nigel Cave. Read article...
Nation in Conflict - The Battle of Wakefield
Fri 21st DecemberPhilip A Haigh describes the events of the Battle of Wakefield - one of the major battles of the Wars of Roses, which took place in December 1460. Extracted from Wakefield & Towton – The Wars of the Roses and reproduced by permission of Pen and Sword Book Read article...
The Dresden Bombing Raids
Wed 13th FebruaryOn the night of 13 February, a young RAF navigator named Frank Musgrove took part in the infamous bombing raids on the German city of Dresden. Read article...