World's oldest man dead at 113

Queen Victoria was still on the British Throne when Henry Allingham was born in the Clapton district of East London on June 6 1896. So much has changed in the world since that day 113 years ago. And Mr Allingham was alive to see it all.

But now, only a month after he had both celebrated his 113th birthday and entered the record books as the world's oldest man following the death in Japan of Tomoji Tanabe, comes the sad news from his care home in the South of England that Mr Allingham has passed away. And as the tributes pour in, following Mr Allingham's death, it is fitting to reflect on the tireless life he had led, full of service and devotion to both his country and his family. A short time after his mother died In 1915, as Europe was in the midst of World War I, Mr Allingham joined the Royal Naval Air Service. After surviving the famous Battle of Jutland, named after the area of Denmark off whose coast it was fought, he made his way to France to work with the Royal Flying Corps. Despite being a mechanic, as CNN reports, he was actually required to fly in the planes he helped maintain when they took to the skies for battle. And he was still in France when the Great War ended. But before it ended he was to witness the terrible loss of life that occurred at the Battle of Passchendaele, fought near the Belgium town of Ypres, hence its alternative name the Third Battle of Ypres. Numbers have been disputed but it is widely thought that over 800,000 people from both sides were killed during the four month long battle. When the Great War broke out his mother, who had raised Mr Allingham with the help of his grandparents after his father had died, had urged him not to join up. As the Daily Telegraph explains in its coverage of Mr Allingham's death, it was at Passchendaele that he understood why. He said of the men he had seen waiting to "go over the top" to, if not certain death, then a very high probability of death:

They would just stand there in 2ft of water in mud-filled trenches, waiting to go forward. They knew what was coming. It was pathetic to see those men like that. I don't think they have ever got the admiration and respect they deserved

As men and women who have experienced large numbers of deaths at close quarters frequently conclude, so did Mr Allingham:

War's stupid. Nobody wins. You might as well talk first, you have to talk last anyway

Happily better times were ahead for Mr Allingham. He married Dorothy Cator in 1918, a marriage that was to last over 50 years, and they brought two daughters, Jean and Betty, in to the world. Whilst Mr Allingham had to watch his wife and daughters precede him in death he lived long enough to witness four subsequent generations bearing his remarkable legacy. Six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 21 great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great grandchild to be precise. In his working life too his incredible loyalty was there for all to see as he, for instance, spent over 25 years in the employment of the Ford Motor Company at their Dagenham plant near London, until his retirement in 1960. When World War II came along Mr Allingham still served his country. This time as a reservist, helping deal with the menace of magnetic mines off the coast of Eastern England. Yet in many ways it will be his unerring dedication in peacetime to the memory of those he had seen fall that will remain uppermost in people's minds. "Remember them, not me," he was once heard to say at a memorial ceremony that he was attending. Much recognition may have come his way personally but, as the statement issued by the St Dunstan's Care Home, where he died in his sleep, noted he saw himself as "an ambassador for his generation" whose duty it was "to ensure that today's generation does not forget the sacrifice of those who died on the Western Front" Two of the people who knew Mr Allingham well and watched him struggle to fight off the effects of the advancing years, he lost his sight through an age related condition, were Dennis Goodwin and Helen Emmerson. The Independent quotes Mr Goodwin, who knew Mr Allingham through his work with the First World War Veterans' Association, as saying of his friend:

He was one of an extremely unique and special generation of people. Not only did they survive the most horrific war of humanity but they had a new life to begin afterwards in an era of depression, and they did it admirably. I'm one of the products of that generation and I think my generation and other generation afterwards should remember that; it's a legacy they should create and keep in their memories

Ms Emmerson, the manager of the St Dunstan's Care Home and somebody who enjoyed almost daily contact with Mr Allingham, added:

I think particularly over the last six to nine months definitely he was finding it more and more difficult due to his advancing age. He had such strength and such strength of character. He wanted to get out there and spread the word. He was tireless in his effort to get the word out there.

Many politicians have also spoken of their admiration for Mr Alllingham. Let us hope that they have heeded his words well and do all that is in their power to serve his memory in the way he would have doubtless chosen. A world of peace and stability for his grandchildren and for his grandchildren's grandchildren too.