“Cigarettes, Whisky, and Wild, Wild Women”: The World’s Oldest Hard Guy Passes On

Henry Allingham, the world’s oldest man at 113 and one of the last living World War I veterans, has died.  He became the oldest man only a month ago, but had already claimed other honors:

He is the last surviving founder member of the RAF, the last man to have witnessed the Battle of Jutland and the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service.

Allingham lived during three centuries, having been born in 1896, and attributed his longevity to “cigarettes, whisky, and wild, wild women.”  Doctors often disagree with this.  None of them live to be 113, though.  But his heroism extended beyond boozing and doing chicks.  In 1915, he enlisted to fight against the Kaiser…  

He would admit later that he did not realise what war meant, but his experiences at the Third Battle of Ypres, more widely known as Passchendaele, ensured that his youthful enthusiasm was replaced by a lasting passion for peace. “War’s stupid,” he told the BBC. “Nobody wins. You might as well talk first, you have to talk last anyway.”

The scenes he witnessed of soldiers waiting to go over the top at Ypres have stayed with him ever since. “They would just stand there in 2ft of water in mud-filled trenches, waiting to go forward,” he said. “They knew what was coming. It was pathetic to see those men like that. I don’t think they have ever got the admiration and respect they deserved.”

In a more serious appraisal of how to live long and prosper, he offered simply: “The trick is to look after yourself and always know your limitations.”

Just to put this in perspective: in 1896, Utah became a state, the modern Olympics began, Ford produced its first vehicle, and William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan in the famous “Battle of the Williams” presidential election.

Sources: BBC, Times of London.