Armistice90 - (2) the last Great War veterans

Amongst those attending the Cenotaph today will be three of Britain's last surviving veterans of the Great War, Henry Allingham, Harry Patch and Bill Stone.

Henry Allingham served in Royal Naval Air Service, and later in the RAF. He volunteered for service in 1915, spending the war as a pilot, gunner and aircraft mechanic in the North Sea and on the Western Front, and was wounded during a German bombing raid on an air depot. At 112, Henry is also Britain's oldest man, and he has dedicated recent years to ensuring that the memory of those who fought and died for their country is preserved, publishing his memoirs "Kitchener's Last Volunteer" earlier this year.

Harry Patch is the last surviving British "Tommy". He was conscripted into service in 1917, joining the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as a Lewis Gunner's assistant. Harry fought at Passchendaele in the third battle of Ypres, where over 70,000 soldiers lost their lives. He worked as a plumber after the war and his own autobiography, "The Last Fighting Tommy", was also published in 2008. Speaking at the service, Mr Patch said,

"I am very happy to be here today. It is not just an honour for me, but for an entire generation. It is important to remember the dead from both sides of the conflict. Irrespective of the uniforms we wore, we were all victims."

Bill Stone, who enlisted in the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday, served as a stoker on board HMS Tiger during the Great War. Later, he remained in the Navy, achieving the position of Chief Stoker during the Second World War and participating in the evacuation of Dunkirk.

The fourth and final remiaining British survivor of the Great War, Claude Choules, aged 107 and a veteran of the Royal Navy, currently lives in Australia and is expected to attend public events there.