Farewell to a hero

The world’s oldest man and one of the last surviving World War I servicemen, has died at the age of 113.

Henry Allingham, born in 1896, served with the Royal Naval Air Service during the Great War. He transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1918 and served at Ypres. He was the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland.

In June 2009, Mr Allingham became the world’s oldest man following the death of previous title holder, Tomoji Tanabe of Japan. In January 2007 he had already become the UK’s oldest man.

Mr Allingham was the holder of a number of medals, including the British War Medal, Victory Medal and the Legion d’Honneur, France’e highest military honour.

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