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Veteran, 109, revisits WWI trench

by grimgraphix Jul 29, 2007 6:25AM PDT

The last known surviving British soldier to have fought in the trenches of World War I has revisited the site where he fought 90 years ago.
Harry Patch, of Somerset, made the trip to Flanders in Belgium to recall his part in the battle which claimed 250,000 British casualties.

He also went to pay homage to the thousands of German soldiers who lost their lives.

The 109-year-old fought in the Battle of Passchendaele when he was aged 19.

He served with the Duke of Cornwall's light infantry and was called up for service while working as an 18-year-old apprentice plumber in Bath.

During the fighting, Mr Patch was badly wounded and three of his best friends were killed when a shell exploded just yards from where he was standing.

'Suffered the same'

He made the trip with historian Richard van Emden, who helped Mr Patch write down his memories.

Mr van Emden showed him the five miles they advanced over 99 days which claimed 3,000 British casualties every day.

He was also shown a recently discovered panoramic photograph of the fields taken in 1917.

"Too many died," said Mr Patch. "War isn't worth one life."

He said war was the "calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings".

Mr Patch laid a wreath at the site of the trench, which now forms part of a German war cemetery.

Around 250,000 Germans died in the battle which has been described as one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles of the Great War.

"The Germans suffered the same as we did," Mr Patch said.

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250,000 Brits dead.

by drpruner. Jul 29, 2007 9:26AM PDT

And other battles like it gutted Britain's 'best and brightest' and set it back as a world power, not just militarily but in science, social services and just about every other way.

Not to mention the other combatant countries.

Some of it reads like a Watchtower article.

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