Friday, June 19, 2009

[henry allingham] now the world's oldest


Gets you right here, doesn't it? You've seen the news, of course and this blog would like to mark the occasion as well. The Beeb announced:

World War I veteran Henry Allingham is the world's oldest man, following the death of 113-year-old Tomoji Tanabe who died in his sleep at his home in southern Japan, Guinness World Records has confirmed.

Mr Allingham, one of only two surviving WWI veterans in the UK and the last surviving founder member of the RAF, was born on 6 June 1896. He was born in Clapton, London, and now lives at St Dunstan's Centre for blind ex-service personnel near Brighton. Mr Allingham is the sole survivor of the Battle of Jutland and has also published his life story.

Mr Allingham's friend and chaperone, Dennis Goodwin, said: "It's staggering. [Henry] is philosophical. He will take it in his stride, like he does everything else. He withdraws in himself and he chews it over like he does all the things he has done in his life. That's his secret I think."

Well done, sir!
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2 comments:

  1. When I was a nursing student, I had the pleasure of taking care of a WW1 vet. He wasn't always 'there' unfortunately, as I would have loved to have talked with him. My two great-great uncles died in France (I think they served with a unit out of Yorkshire). Sad when you count the cost of it all, and for what.

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