serviceyears laterwork branch death_date death_place birth_place allegiance unit battles birth_date nickname article_title name
june & ndash ; november 1918 mechanic british army 4 april 2009 clayton-le-moors , lancashire , england great harwood , lancashire , england uk united kingdom 51st manchester regiment first world war 12 june 1900 ned netherwood hughes
 ned hughes
netherwood hughes

netherwood `` ned '' hughes -lrb- 12 june 1900 -- 4 april 2009 -rrb- was one of the last two tommies who served the united kingdom during the first world war , along with harry patch , although patch is the only one to have seen action .
hughes was also one of three british veterans still living in the country , with patch and henry allingham being the other two .
the ministry of defence has not confirmed his war service , but many first world war service records were destroyed in the blitz during the second world war .
however the world war i veterans association invited him to the cenotaph for the 90th anniversary of the armistice .
he did not attend as his family felt that the journey would be too much for him .
he was born in great harwood , the middle child of seven siblings to john , who worked as an optician , and robina .
he had three brothers : charlie , henry , and sidney , who served in the royal navy on hms albion .
hughes spent most of his working life as a mechanic and driver and , in june 1918 , he was called up , like every other driver in great britain , to perform that role in the british army .
while he was still in training the war ended , and he returned home to drive in a mill .
he later became a bus driver .
hughes married twice , but never had any children , although he was frequently visited by his nephews at his care home , woodlands home for the elderly in clayton-le-moors , where he spent most of his time in the grounds , smoking his pipe .
when receiving a birthday card from the queen each year since his 100th birthday , he commented : `` she has the same frock on '' .
in his final few weeks , ned 's health deteriorated and he had difficulty speaking for a week before his death , according to his niece , ann hutton .
he died of natural causes on 4 april 2009 , aged 108 , at woodlands .
speaking to the `` accrington observer '' , mrs hutton said , `` it 's not the family 's wishes for a military funeral .
we do n't want bugles and whistles , we just want a simple family affair .
he could n't stand any fuss on his birthdays . ''
