Bodmin says its fitting farewell to Harry Patch
Harry Patch was aged 111 when he died in Somerset in July. Mr Patch was a machine gunner with the DCLI which has a close affinity with Bodmin and where the regimental museum is based.
Past members of the regiment, some from Somerset, attended the service, as did current servicemen and women.
The Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, Lady Mary Holborow, and Lady Elizabeth Gass, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset were present, as was General Sir Jack Deverall, who served with the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry,
Among the 300 plus congregation at St Petroc's church were Harry's grandson, Roger Patch and his close friend Nick Frear, who read from Harry Patch's book, The Last Fighting Tommy.
The service was conducted by Canon Graham Minors, who is honorary chaplain to The Rifles regiment.
The order of service said it was fitting the town of Bodmin should remember those men of the county regiment who fought so gallantly in the Great War and in particular those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
It read: "Harry Patch was a man of peace. By virtue of his great age, he became a spokesman for those who fell in Flanders' Fields.
"His passing marked the end of an era and the nation remembered a generation of young men who made the ultimate sacrifice.
"The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry were at the forefront of many battles and 255 officers and 4,027 men gave up their lives that we may enjoy the freedom we now take for granted.''
Harry Patch served in the trenches at Ypres in 1917 and was wounded by a German shell.
His military medals and other honours bestowed on him in his later life are on permanent display in the town's DCLI museum.
Harry Patch.
Comment on this story