Janet
12th November 2007, 10:20
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y65/Bagpuss/Bagpuss_Books%202007/027-2007-11-Nov-TheLastFightingTomm.jpg
The Last Fighting Tommy by Harry Patch (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Fighting-Tommy-Surviving-Trenches/dp/0747591156/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/026-3414425-9047625?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194858652&sr=8-1)
The ‘blurb’
Harry Patch, the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches of the First World War, is now 108 years old and one of very few people who can directly recall the horror of that conflict. Harry vividly remembers his childhood in the Somerset countryside of Edwardian England. He left school in 1913 to become an apprentice plumber but three years later was conscripted, serving as a machine gunner in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Fighting in the mud and trenches during the Battle of Passchendaele, he saw a great many of his comrades die, and in one dreadful moment the shell that wounded him killed his three closest friends. In vivid detail he describes daily life in the trenches, the terror of being under intense artillery fire, and the fear of going over the top. Then, after the Armistice, the soldiers' frustration at not being quickly demobbed led to a mutiny in which Harry was soon caught up. The Second World War saw Harry in action on the home front as a fire-fighter during the bombing of Bath. He also warmly describes his friendship with American GIs preparing to go to France, and, years later, his tears when he saw their graves. Late in life Harry achieved fame, meeting the Queen and taking part in the BBC documentary "The Last Tommies", finally shaking hands with a German veteran of the artillery and speaking out frankly to Prime Minister Tony Blair about the soldiers shot for cowardice in the First World War. "The Last Fighting Tommy" is the story of an ordinary man's extraordinary life.
Harry Patch is something of a local celebrity. And hardly surprising really, given his great age. He’s now 109 years old and lives in Wells, Somerset. He was born and brought up in Combe Down in Bath (my Dad lived there during WW2 when his family were moved there by the company my Grandfather worked for, who made parts for planes), so the book is littered with local references, which made it all the more enjoyable for me.
Rather than just tell of Harry’s experiences in WW1, the book is his history from the day he was born (in 1898) until the present day. He’s lived through two wars and has been alive in three centuries. It’s humbling to think of that.
Harry was present at the service of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday night. According to our local paper, he was going to spend yesterday (Remembrance Day) in quiet reflection at his nursing home in Wells - and who can blame him.
I really enjoyed the book (aside a few spelling mistakes for place-names, which the co-author could have checked out really easily. Harry’s book deserves better). Harry is a legend.
The hardback is 228 pages long and is published by Bloomsbury Publishing. The ISBN number is 978-0747591153.
9/10
(Read November 2007)
The Last Fighting Tommy by Harry Patch (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Fighting-Tommy-Surviving-Trenches/dp/0747591156/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/026-3414425-9047625?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194858652&sr=8-1)
The ‘blurb’
Harry Patch, the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches of the First World War, is now 108 years old and one of very few people who can directly recall the horror of that conflict. Harry vividly remembers his childhood in the Somerset countryside of Edwardian England. He left school in 1913 to become an apprentice plumber but three years later was conscripted, serving as a machine gunner in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Fighting in the mud and trenches during the Battle of Passchendaele, he saw a great many of his comrades die, and in one dreadful moment the shell that wounded him killed his three closest friends. In vivid detail he describes daily life in the trenches, the terror of being under intense artillery fire, and the fear of going over the top. Then, after the Armistice, the soldiers' frustration at not being quickly demobbed led to a mutiny in which Harry was soon caught up. The Second World War saw Harry in action on the home front as a fire-fighter during the bombing of Bath. He also warmly describes his friendship with American GIs preparing to go to France, and, years later, his tears when he saw their graves. Late in life Harry achieved fame, meeting the Queen and taking part in the BBC documentary "The Last Tommies", finally shaking hands with a German veteran of the artillery and speaking out frankly to Prime Minister Tony Blair about the soldiers shot for cowardice in the First World War. "The Last Fighting Tommy" is the story of an ordinary man's extraordinary life.
Harry Patch is something of a local celebrity. And hardly surprising really, given his great age. He’s now 109 years old and lives in Wells, Somerset. He was born and brought up in Combe Down in Bath (my Dad lived there during WW2 when his family were moved there by the company my Grandfather worked for, who made parts for planes), so the book is littered with local references, which made it all the more enjoyable for me.
Rather than just tell of Harry’s experiences in WW1, the book is his history from the day he was born (in 1898) until the present day. He’s lived through two wars and has been alive in three centuries. It’s humbling to think of that.
Harry was present at the service of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday night. According to our local paper, he was going to spend yesterday (Remembrance Day) in quiet reflection at his nursing home in Wells - and who can blame him.
I really enjoyed the book (aside a few spelling mistakes for place-names, which the co-author could have checked out really easily. Harry’s book deserves better). Harry is a legend.
The hardback is 228 pages long and is published by Bloomsbury Publishing. The ISBN number is 978-0747591153.
9/10
(Read November 2007)