Saturday, June 20, 2009

British WW1 vet the world's oldest man

UK man is world's oldest at 113

Henry Allingham with his great-great grandson Erik Carlson aged 3

World War I veteran Henry Allingham is the world's oldest man following the death of a 113-year-old in 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.

Tomoji Tanabe died in his sleep at his home in southern Japan, aged 113.

Mr Tanabe was named as the world's oldest man in June 2007 and credited his longevity to drinking a daily glass of milk.

'Take in stride'

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."...

There are some great pictures of Mr Allingham's life, starting with one when he was a little boy. One of my favourites, though, was this one:

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