:00:00. > :00:00.veteran and the oldest man in the world when he died aged 113. This
:00:00. > :00:10.tribute was first broadcast the year he died in 2009.
:00:11. > :00:17.Above the sunlit rooftops of a south coast city, the bells toll for a
:00:18. > :00:21.remarkable man. Henry Allingham love to this part of the UK and the
:00:22. > :00:27.people of Brighton were here to show their affection and respect. Heads
:00:28. > :00:34.turning to watch aircraft from another age marking his service in
:00:35. > :00:37.the war to end all wars and the dedication of one veteran to the
:00:38. > :00:58.friends he lost on the battlefields of Europe.
:00:59. > :01:06.Henry Allingham was the oldest survivor of the great War. To his
:01:07. > :01:16.family, he was Grandad. Great grandad. Great great grandad. And
:01:17. > :01:25.great great great grandad. To the rest of us, he was an eyewitness to
:01:26. > :01:30.history. I first met Henry on his 109th birthday. In the years that
:01:31. > :01:33.followed, he never lost his enthusiasm for new experiences.
:01:34. > :01:46.Never allowed frailty to prevent him doing what he saw as his duty. In an
:01:47. > :01:55.East London playground earlier this year, excited voices welcomed a VIP
:01:56. > :01:59.to liven up the daily routine. Henry Allingham had returned to visit the
:02:00. > :02:04.classrooms he last saw over a century ago. The children of
:02:05. > :02:12.multiple primary were face to face with the oldest man they had ever
:02:13. > :02:16.seen. We would like to ask you some questions. Our first question is,
:02:17. > :02:29.what is the secret to growing old is fit as you are? By being good. The
:02:30. > :02:39.only way to get the best out of this life is all I knew. Being good.
:02:40. > :02:48.Henry William Roy Allen, young Harry to his family, was born in London on
:02:49. > :02:54.June the 6th, 1896. Queen Victoria, age 75, became Britain's longest
:02:55. > :03:00.serving monarch. In a light spanning three centuries, he would witness a
:03:01. > :03:06.world transformed. Two great wars, becoming a television, computers and
:03:07. > :03:11.the jet engine. `` the coming of. When I last spoke to him, his speech
:03:12. > :03:12.was not as clear as it had been and his earliest memories were still
:03:13. > :04:13.sharp. Around young Henry, London had
:04:14. > :04:15.entered a new century. A period of rapid change. The sound of horses
:04:16. > :04:50.would soon disappear. And you drive me all round Regent 's
:04:51. > :05:13.Park. School in east London was primitive
:05:14. > :05:42.and poorly funded. Even paper and pencils were a luxury.
:05:43. > :06:00.One boyhood fascination was rowing. Look how small it is, Henry. The
:06:01. > :06:12.tiny clubhouse remains, as does one significant entry in the list of
:06:13. > :06:17.winners. Henry Allingham, second. Mr Darcy won it and you were second.
:06:18. > :06:34.You were second. The winner was Darcy. In the pairs. You have not
:06:35. > :06:49.paid your subscription for 93 years. Have you got the money with you? I
:06:50. > :06:53.pay weekly. Time spent on the river was time spent with new friends and
:06:54. > :08:17.away from the financial hardships that led the
:08:18. > :08:23.Across the Channel in Europe, Evans were unfolding that would draw in
:08:24. > :08:28.millions of young men. Volunteering for what they saw as a great
:08:29. > :08:35.adventure. Oblivious to the threat of death and injury. I wanted to go
:08:36. > :08:57.straightaway to the wall. My mother did not want that. I asked my
:08:58. > :09:06.mother. I saw what I think was a shop. That is for me.
:09:07. > :09:09.On a misty morning in Bedfordshire, we really liked it Henry with old
:09:10. > :09:35.friends. `` reunited. The aircraft they read a reminder of
:09:36. > :09:42.his wartime service. There was no concealing his delight. Give him a
:09:43. > :09:58.wave, Henry. How is the engine sounding?
:09:59. > :10:05.I never thought I would see them in the air again. It is a miracle to
:10:06. > :10:15.me, to see them again. I cannot believe it. Varied his right before
:10:16. > :10:19.my very eyes. One last opportunity to inspect the fragile technology
:10:20. > :10:48.that had carried him on patrol over the North Sea.
:10:49. > :11:06.More than nine decades on, a visit to London's Imperial War Museum with
:11:07. > :11:11.carers. The man of the day. They helped persuade Henry to share his
:11:12. > :11:13.wartime memories. They were the gas masks, Henry, that they used to
:11:14. > :12:24.wear. In September 1917, Henry's squadron
:12:25. > :12:44.were transferred to the Western front. That is right. They were one
:12:45. > :12:49.of the first. The war had settled into a bloody stalemate along a line
:12:50. > :12:56.of trenches stretching from the Belgian coast to the Swiss
:12:57. > :13:00.frontier. In the skies above, fledgeling pilots dodged the shell
:13:01. > :13:07.bursts and is garnished with the enemy. `` skirmish to.
:13:08. > :13:11.I am wondering, what on earth it must have been like in that open
:13:12. > :13:46.cockpit when you are flying in it? And you were watching for the
:13:47. > :14:54.Germans all the time with your machine`gun?
:14:55. > :15:01.The need to salvage spares from downed aircraft often took Henry and
:15:02. > :15:04.his comrades into harm's way. Already nursing a win from artillery
:15:05. > :16:15.fire, he recalled one terrifying night spent close to the front line.
:16:16. > :16:35.Then, on a November morning, it was all over. Along the lines, disbelief
:16:36. > :17:26.gave way to elation. Henry, you remember the day the war ended?
:17:27. > :17:34.Amidst the music and the chatter of veterans party, the slaughter of the
:17:35. > :17:42.First World War might seem a distant nightmare. One guest was a living
:17:43. > :17:44.reminder but for half a century, he blocked out that period of his
:17:45. > :18:32.life. Back at the Royal hospital, two more
:18:33. > :18:33.old soldiers had asked to meet a man who volunteered for service long
:18:34. > :18:51.before they were born. Veterans of different conflicts
:18:52. > :19:11.sharing a belief in the futility of war.
:19:12. > :19:20.The snapshots in Henry's albums represent happier times. He outlived
:19:21. > :19:24.his wife, Dorothy, and a daughter who had moved overseas as a GI 's
:19:25. > :19:35.bride but the bonds with his extended family in the US grew
:19:36. > :19:44.closer as the years passed. Every birthday celebration I joined was
:19:45. > :19:56.full of love and laughter. Don't you blow out...! She's! Actually, when I
:19:57. > :19:59.was in kindergarten, my grandmother told me that he was coming over for
:20:00. > :20:13.the summer. He was telling my friends at the time how
:20:14. > :20:15.amazing it was that this guy was coming all the way from England and
:20:16. > :20:21.he was my grandmother's father, which to me was amazing. I remember
:20:22. > :20:25.thinking it was so neat that I had this great grandfather who was still
:20:26. > :20:30.in his 90s and rode his bicycle and played golf and went sailing with
:20:31. > :20:41.us. Just wonderful memories of this very active man. When Henry broke
:20:42. > :20:45.his silence well past his 100 year, light became a great deal busier.
:20:46. > :20:48.Around the UK, audiences young and old were spellbound by a precious
:20:49. > :20:57.opportunity to hear the story spanned three centuries. Tales
:20:58. > :21:00.of adventure and sacrifice told on behalf of the friends who never
:21:01. > :21:19.returned home. Good morning, everybody. Where were you based at
:21:20. > :21:23.the start of the war? They asked where I wanted to go at my first
:21:24. > :21:31.training and I said I wanted to go to East Africa. He is a lovely man
:21:32. > :21:37.and he had a great sense of humour, which I was quite surprised at. He
:21:38. > :21:42.made us all laugh. His memories are amazing, what he can remember about
:21:43. > :21:47.the war. Of course, he saw all of these events firsthand. It was very
:21:48. > :21:51.special because he has been through a lot in his life and hearing him
:21:52. > :21:58.talk about the war is unbelievable because, well, we will never meet
:21:59. > :22:04.anybody who has been through two world wars in our lifetime. He told
:22:05. > :22:08.us about a time on a train when he had to tell a woman how her husband
:22:09. > :22:14.had died. It was so awful because there were so many men and people
:22:15. > :22:20.who had lost their lives to save their country and their families. I
:22:21. > :22:26.was actually quite surprised at how young he seemed. I expected him to
:22:27. > :22:32.be less mobile and less with it than he was because of his age but it
:22:33. > :22:36.just goes to show that even if you have to live that long, it does not
:22:37. > :22:41.mean that you have got to have a bad memory. He can still remember all
:22:42. > :22:52.the horrors and enjoyment he has seen over the past years.
:22:53. > :23:03.We all owe so much to those men who have given what they did. I pay
:23:04. > :23:12.homage to those men very much. I cannot help it.
:23:13. > :23:21.Henry never relished being centrestage but every birthday
:23:22. > :23:30.brought fresh tributes and a new experience. The services competed to
:23:31. > :23:44.show their admiration with a memorable party venue. Did a good
:23:45. > :23:47.job, lads! In this case, a gathering onboard HMS Victory and an encounter
:23:48. > :23:59.with a famous piece of naval headgear. Henry, do you know whose
:24:00. > :24:15.hat you have got on? I do not. Nelson's! No! No! And he is turning
:24:16. > :24:20.over in his grave! We began saying goodbye to him on his 100th birthday
:24:21. > :24:23.and every year, he is back again. By the time we got to this year's
:24:24. > :24:29.birthday party, it was becoming obvious that they be this was the
:24:30. > :24:32.last time. I think we are turning from grieving to celebrating and,
:24:33. > :24:46.looking back on a wonderful life... Soon after his 112th birthday, on a
:24:47. > :24:56.windswept and drizzly Blackpool seafront, Henry was still on parade.
:24:57. > :25:01.What does it mean to have Henry here today? Absolutely fantastic. I
:25:02. > :25:07.cannot say how much it means. So good to meet a legend. We were
:25:08. > :25:16.joking about taking some lessons. Absolutely wonderful, he really is.
:25:17. > :25:46.I feel so privileged to escort him. Well done, so! `` sir!
:25:47. > :26:01.One, two, three... We are up, Henry! A wonderful old man.
:26:02. > :26:06.Terrific! I want to shake his hand but I cannot get near him! Go around
:26:07. > :26:18.the other side, he will shake your hand. Henry, can I shake your hand?
:26:19. > :26:38.LAUGHTER. Cheers. Good to be with you! Wonderful, wonderful!
:26:39. > :26:43.Terroristic, that! Yeah! Terrific. Henry Allingham found new purpose in
:26:44. > :26:47.the twilight of a very long life. When you are gone, what would you
:26:48. > :26:48.like people to say about Henry Allingham and to remember about
:26:49. > :26:52.you?