Harry Patch
| Henry John "Harry" Patch | |
|---|---|
Patch, aged 109, in Prior Park Landscape Garden.
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| Nickname(s) | Harry Patch |
| Born |
17 June 1898 Combe Down, Bath, Somerset |
| Died | 25 July 2009 (aged 111 years, 38 days) Wells, Somerset |
| Buried at | St Michael's Church, Monkton Combe |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1916–1918 |
| Rank | Private, briefly Lance Corporal |
| Unit | 7th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
Officer of the Légion d'honneur Knight of the Order of Leopold British War Medal Victory Medal 1939–45 Defence Medal National Service Medal Hors de combat Freedom of the City of Wells Honorary Master of Arts, Bristol |
| Spouse(s) | Ada Billington (1919–1976; her death) Kathleen Alice Joy "Jean" (1979–1984; her death) Doris Whittaker (d. 2007) |
| Other work |
Plumber Firefighter |
Henry John "Harry" Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009), dubbed in his later years "the Last Fighting Tommy", was a British supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe and the last surviving combat soldier of the First World War from any country. He is known to have fought in the trenches of the Western Front. Patch was the longest surviving combat soldier of World War I, but he was the fifth longest surviving veteran of any sort from World War I, behind British veterans Claude Choules and Florence Green, Frank Buckles of the United States and John Babcock of Canada. At the time of his death, aged 111 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day, Patch was the third-oldest man in the world and the oldest man in Europe.
Patch was born in the village of Combe Down, near Bath, Somerset, England. He appears in the 1901 Census as a two-year-old boy along with his stonemason father William John Patch, mother Elizabeth Ann (née Morris) and older brothers George Frederick and William Thomas at a house called "Fonthill". The family are recorded at the same address "Fonthill Cottage" in the 1911 census. His elder brothers are recorded as a carpenter and banker mason. Longevity ran in Patch's family; his father lived to 82, his mother to 94, his brother George to 95 and his brother William to 87. Patch left school in 1913 and became an apprentice plumber in Bath.
In October 1916, during World War I, he was conscripted into the British Army as a private, reporting for duty at Tolland Barracks, Taunton. During the winter of 1916–17 he was promoted lance-corporal but was demoted after a fist fight with a soldier, who had taken his boots from his billet, and he saw no further promotion. Patch went through a series of short-lived attachments to several regiments, including the Royal Warwickshire Regiment before being posted after completing training to the 7th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, serving as an assistant gunner in a Lewis gun section. Patch arrived in France in June 1917. He fought on the Western Front at the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) and was injured in the groin, when a shell exploded overhead at 22:30 on 22 September 1917, killing three of his comrades. He was removed from the front line and returned to England on 23 December 1917. Patch referred to 22 September as his personal Remembrance Day. He was still convalescing on the Isle of Wight when the Armistice with Germany was declared the following November.
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