French legion honour for Harry

Tuesday 10th March 2009, 1:58PM GMT.

harry-patch The last living British veteran of the First World War trenches, who used to live in Shropshire, has spoken of his “great pride” after being awarded the French Legion of Honour Medal.

Harry Patch, 110, the last Tommy, is our only surviving soldier to have fought at the Western Front and one of just two UK Great War veterans still alive.

He was awarded the Legion d’Honneur medal by the French Ambassador, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, at his Somerset care home yesterday.

Mr Patch, who became a plumber after serving at Passchendaele, told those gathered in Wells: “I will wear this medal with great pride and when I eventually rejoin my mates it will be displayed in my regimental museum as a permanent reminder of the kindness of the people of France.”

He added: “Now, but two of us remain at our post and the people of France, through their president, have honoured us once more by appointing us as Officers of the Legion of Honour.

“Ambassador, I greatly appreciate the way your people respect the memory of those who fell, irrespective of the uniform they wore.”

The Legion d’Honneur is the highest decoration in France.

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