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A mechanic in London, in 1915, with both parents dead, World War I raging, and after seeing an airplane, Allingham, then 19, decided to join the Royal Naval Air Service (and later was transferred to the Royal Air Force when the RNAS was merged with the Royal Flying Corps). In addition to working on planes as a mechanic, Allingham worked wherever he was needed: he was also a pilot, and sometimes an observer -- armed with a standard-issue rifle to try to shoot down enemy planes from his open cockpit. He served as a sailor, fighting in the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Jutland. And he served as a soldier, manning a machine gun on France's Western Front. After the war, he spent most of his career with Ford Motor Co., retiring in 1960. But as he aged, he wanted to remind people of the sacrifices made in the Great War; nearly a million Brits died, and "I want everyone to know: They died for us," he would tell anyone who would listen. "I think we need to make people aware that a few men gave all they had to give so that you could have a better world to live in." During his 110th year, he made 60 public appearances to tell younger generations about the war. When asked how he would like to be remembered, Allingham replied "I don't. I want to be forgotten. Remember the others." With his death, Britain only has two other World War I veterans left alive (the U.S. has only one). At the time of his death, Allingham was Britain's oldest man ever, the world's oldest man, the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland, the last surviving founding member of the RAF, and the last surviving member of the RNAS. He credited his long life to "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women -- and a good sense of humor." He was 113 years and 43 days old when he died in his sleep in the early morning of July 18.
From This is True for 19 July 2009
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