Harry Patch, the last survivor of the first world war trenches, had one desire he wished to share with the world

SHOOT: Instead of war, reconciliation. Great picture below. Bleak, yet striking with blood red airborne petals.

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk Thousands of mourners will bring the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset to a standstill today for the funeral of Harry Patch, who was the last surviving soldier to fight in the trenches in the first world war. Visitors from across Europe will line the streets as Patch's coffin is taken from the care home where he spent his final years to the cathedral. Patch was known for his stance against war, and yesterday Radiohead premiered a song written as a tribute to this, with Patch's own words as lyrics. He died on Saturday 25 July, aged 111, at the Fletcher House care home. The death of the only man who could talk from experience about the horrors of Passchendaele prompted Gordon Brown to announce a national memorial service at Westminster Abbey for those who served in the first world war. Afterwards a bugler from the Rifles will sound the Last Post before the bells sound 111 times, one ring for every year of Patch's life.