Britain mourns its oldest warrior

He was a soldier,a survivor of the trenches and,in later years,an advocate for peace. The funeral of Harry Patch,Britains last infantry veteran of World War I,was a tribute both to a simple man and to the millions of soldiers who died on the battlefields of northern Europe.

British soldiers,marching shoulder-to-shoulder with their comrades from Belgium,France and even Germany,a former foe,escorted Patchs coffin through this town in western England on Thursday to honor Patch’s respect for all the soldiers in the war.

People stood quietly as the coffin,shrouded in a Union flag,rolled through the streets. Patch died on July 25 at 111.