Not all the voices are yet silenced.
From the Telegraph today:
Four of the 23 known surviving veterans of the First World War have led a service commemorating the 90th anniversary of the conflict's outbreak.
The veterans, who are all over 100 years old, met at the Cenotaph in London for the 11am service, which was also attended by Lord Kitchener, the great nephew of Field Marshall Kitchener, who commanded British forces during the war.Three of the men arrived in wheelchairs, but William Stone, 103, walked unaided as the group carried wreaths to lay at the memorial in Whitehall.
The men were Henry Allingham, 108, from Eastbourne, East Sussex; Mr Stone, from Watlington, Oxon; John Oborne, 104, from Porthcawl, Carmarthenshire; and Fred Lloyd, 106, from Uckfield, East Sussex...
...Following the Last Post and a minute's silence, the four men laid wreaths in memory of the 750,000 British soldiers killed between 1914 and 1918.
Mr Lloyd, who lost both his brothers in the war, served with the Royal Veterinary Corps at the Somme by taking horses to the Front.He said before the ceremony: "War is not a wonderful thing to be remembered, but those who died must never be forgotten. I'll be there for the lads."
Ladies and Gentlemen, I say to you:
Henry Allingham
William Stone
John Oborne
Fred Loyd
To this list I add:
Daddy Jack
(John Timothy Donovan, 2LT, FA, National Army of the United States, though he died some years ago. My Grandfather.)
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance. In Memorium.
Daddy Jack, this one's for you.
The full story is here.
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