Henry Allingham, whose life spanned three centuries and six monarchs, has died at the age of 113, leaving just two remaining British survivors of World War I.
He served with the Royal Naval Air Service, later transferring to the Royal Air Force at the time of its creation. In 2006 at Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, he was reunited with the planes he had worked on 90 years earlier.
For decades, Mr Allingham, who served in Ypres, kept his war memories from family and friends but, in a biography published last year, he finally laid out his recollections for all to read.
Last year, Mr Allingham (left), Harry Patch, then 110 (centre), and Bill Stone, 108, attended Armistice day commemorations in London.
Last month, the Royal Navy hosted a 113th birthday party on HMS President in London for his family, close friends and members of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
Among those to join the celebrations was his great-great grandson Erik Carlson, aged three. He also has five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 13 other great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.
His spirit and longevity - which he jokingly puts down to cigarettes, whisky and wild women - has earned him many admirers, young and old.
Gordon Brown said he had met the veteran many times and described him as a "tremendous character".
Less than two weeks after his 113th birthday, Guinness World Records confirmed Henry Allingham as the world's oldest man following the death of a Japanese man who had also been 113.
Once asked how he would like to be remembered, he said: "I don't. I want to be forgotten. Remember the others."
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