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Harry PatchBritish centenarian, last veteran of the First World War
Date of Birth: 17.06.1898
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Biography of Harry Patch
Harry Patch was a British centenarian, the last surviving veteran of World War I from the United Kingdom, and one of the four last surviving veterans worldwide. Until his death, he was the oldest living person in Europe and the third oldest in the world.
Early Life and Military Service
Henry John Patch was born in the village of Combe Down in Somerset, England. In the 1901 census, he was listed as a two-year-old living with his family, including his father William, a stonemason, his mother Elizabeth, and his older brothers George and William, in the "Font Hill" house. Before World War I, Patch worked as a plumber's apprentice in Bath, Somerset. He left school in 1913.
In October 1916, he was conscripted into the Light Infantry of Cornwall as a private and served as a machine gunner's assistant using the Lewis gun. In June 1917, Patch arrived in France with his fellow soldiers. During his time there, he participated in the Battle of Passchendaele. On September 22, 1917, at 22:30, Patch was wounded in the groin after a shell exploded, killing three of his comrades. He was evacuated from the front line and returned to England on December 23, 1917.
Life After the War
After the war, Patch returned to work as a plumber and spent four years helping build the memorial tower at Will's in Bristol. During World War II, when he was too old to serve in combat, Patch worked as a firefighter.
In 1918, Harry Patch married Ada Billington, who passed away in 1976. They had two sons, Dennis and Roy, both of whom died before Harry Patch. At the age of 81, he remarried to Doris, who lived in the same nursing home as him, and she passed away in 2004. His third wife, Doris, who lived in the same nursing home as him, passed away in 2008.
Patch spent his final years in the Fletcher House nursing home, where he passed away on July 25, 2009.
