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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Harry Patch -- the last surviving British soldier from World War I -- died Saturday at the age of 111, Britain's Ministry of Defence said.
Patch died peacefully at his care home in the southwestern English city of Wells, the ministry announced.
His death came a week after fellow British World War I veteran Henry Allingham died at the age of 113.
Patch was the last surviving soldier to have witnessed the horrors of trench warfare in the first World War
He fought and was seriously wounded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele, in which 70,000 of his fellow soldiers died -- including three of his close friends.
Born in 1898, Patch became a plumber before being conscripted to the army in 1916. After training, Patch was recruited to The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as a Lewis gunner assistant.
The unit was rushed to the front line trenches of Ypres, where soldiers were urgently needed to replace those who were wounded and dying by the thousand.
He fought in the trenches between June and September of 1917 and was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. In late September he was wounded when a light shell exploded above his head, bringing an end to his military service.
He received battlefield treatment without anesthetic.
After the war, Harry returned to his work as a plumber and later became a sanitary engineer. He married Ada Billington, a young girl he met while convalescing after the battle. They married in 1919 and had two sons.
In World War II, Patch joined the Auxiliary Fire Service and helped tackle the fires caused by heavy German raids on the English cities of Bath and Bristol.
At one point, he was sent to organize sanitary arrangements for soldiers at a camp near Yeovil, where he became friendly with some of the men. Patch remembered the shock of finding the camp deserted, with coffee still hot and meals half-eaten, on the morning that the soldiers had gone off to France, the Ministry of Defence said.
His wife, Ada, died in 1976, and their two sons also later died. Patch remarried in 1980, but he became a widower for the second time four years later.
Patch didn't speak about the war until he turned 100, the Ministry of Defence said.
This leaves only three veterans still alive.
Claude Stanley Choules, Royal Navy, last surviving seaman of the First World War. He is also the last veteran to have witnessed the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919. (Resides in Australia)
John Henry Foster "Jack" Babcock, Canadian Expeditionary Force, last Canadian veteran of the First World War. (Resides in the U.S.)
Frank Woodruff Buckles, U.S. Army, last American veteran of the First World War.
Patch died peacefully at his care home in the southwestern English city of Wells, the ministry announced.
His death came a week after fellow British World War I veteran Henry Allingham died at the age of 113.
Patch was the last surviving soldier to have witnessed the horrors of trench warfare in the first World War
He fought and was seriously wounded in Ypres, Belgium, in 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele, in which 70,000 of his fellow soldiers died -- including three of his close friends.
Born in 1898, Patch became a plumber before being conscripted to the army in 1916. After training, Patch was recruited to The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as a Lewis gunner assistant.
The unit was rushed to the front line trenches of Ypres, where soldiers were urgently needed to replace those who were wounded and dying by the thousand.
He fought in the trenches between June and September of 1917 and was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. In late September he was wounded when a light shell exploded above his head, bringing an end to his military service.
He received battlefield treatment without anesthetic.
After the war, Harry returned to his work as a plumber and later became a sanitary engineer. He married Ada Billington, a young girl he met while convalescing after the battle. They married in 1919 and had two sons.
In World War II, Patch joined the Auxiliary Fire Service and helped tackle the fires caused by heavy German raids on the English cities of Bath and Bristol.
At one point, he was sent to organize sanitary arrangements for soldiers at a camp near Yeovil, where he became friendly with some of the men. Patch remembered the shock of finding the camp deserted, with coffee still hot and meals half-eaten, on the morning that the soldiers had gone off to France, the Ministry of Defence said.
His wife, Ada, died in 1976, and their two sons also later died. Patch remarried in 1980, but he became a widower for the second time four years later.
Patch didn't speak about the war until he turned 100, the Ministry of Defence said.
This leaves only three veterans still alive.
Claude Stanley Choules, Royal Navy, last surviving seaman of the First World War. He is also the last veteran to have witnessed the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919. (Resides in Australia)
John Henry Foster "Jack" Babcock, Canadian Expeditionary Force, last Canadian veteran of the First World War. (Resides in the U.S.)
Frank Woodruff Buckles, U.S. Army, last American veteran of the First World War.