06/08/2009
Last Tommy To Be Buried
The funeral of Britain's last Tommy, Harry Patch, who died at the age of 111, is due to take place later.
The last surviving WWI veteran residing in the UK, who died in July 25th, will be honoured at a service at Wells Cathedral, Somerset.
The bells of the cathedral will toll 111 times at 11am to mark every year of Mr Patch's life.
His hearse will begin its journey from Fletcher House care home to the cathedral at 11.30am.
Mr Patch's coffin will be flanked by six private soldiers of the Rifles Regiment, the successor to his Regiment, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
Two soldiers from the armies of Belgium, France and Germany will also be taking part.
The funeral will be attended by the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duchess of Gloucester in her capacity as President of the World War One Veterans Association, Veterans Minister Kevan Jones and General Sir Richard Dannatt, as well as Mr Patch's close friends, family members and more than 1,000 members of the public.
Mr Patch, who was born in 1898 in Combe Down, near Bath, was a machine-gunner in the trenches and served as a plumber from June to September 1917.
At the time of his death Mr Patch was the oldest man in Europe, following the death of 113-year-old Henry Allingham, from East Sussex, who had been the world's oldest man.
(GK/BMcc)
The last surviving WWI veteran residing in the UK, who died in July 25th, will be honoured at a service at Wells Cathedral, Somerset.
The bells of the cathedral will toll 111 times at 11am to mark every year of Mr Patch's life.
His hearse will begin its journey from Fletcher House care home to the cathedral at 11.30am.
Mr Patch's coffin will be flanked by six private soldiers of the Rifles Regiment, the successor to his Regiment, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
Two soldiers from the armies of Belgium, France and Germany will also be taking part.
The funeral will be attended by the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duchess of Gloucester in her capacity as President of the World War One Veterans Association, Veterans Minister Kevan Jones and General Sir Richard Dannatt, as well as Mr Patch's close friends, family members and more than 1,000 members of the public.
Mr Patch, who was born in 1898 in Combe Down, near Bath, was a machine-gunner in the trenches and served as a plumber from June to September 1917.
At the time of his death Mr Patch was the oldest man in Europe, following the death of 113-year-old Henry Allingham, from East Sussex, who had been the world's oldest man.
(GK/BMcc)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.