This weekend Harry Patch, Britain’s last surviving First World War veteran, died at the fine old age of 111. The news saddened me for a number of reasons. First off, having read his book, The Last Tommy, I had a real admiration for the man and his anti-war philosophy. Secondly, it reminded me again of the hideous and wasteful slaughter that cost the life of another Harry, my great grandfather Harry Rayner, at the age of just eighteen.

The father he never met

When I was a kid, my grandfather used to read me postcards from the father he never met. In those, there was never any talk of the horrors of trench warfare but plenty about Harry missing his pregnant wife and looking forward to apples from the orchard.

Harry Patch survived the last and one of the bloodiest British offensives of the war. Three of his best mates weren’t so lucky.

My grandfather, himself a bona fide Second World War hero (with a medal presented by the King to prove it), would sigh and tell me to never forget how stupid war is.

The last witness

Now that the last witness to those times has gone, the war cemeteries of Belgium and France are more important than ever. Harry Patch survived the last and one of the bloodiest British offensives of the war, The Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele. Three of his best mates, in his machine gun team of five, were among the 300 000 solders who weren’t so lucky.

11,871 war graves

They are likely to be buried in one of the many war cemeteries that surround the battlefield. Tyne Cot Cemetery, for example, is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world. Started in 1917, the cemetery lies three kilometres southwest of the village of Passchendaele. It contains 11,871 war graves, of which 70 percent are unidentified.

Endless beauty

Visiting these places is a unique experience. On the one hand the sheer number of graves and the scale of death they represent overwhelm you. But at the same time, you can’t help but admire the beauty of the endless rows of stones, and wonder at the contrast between the chaos of war and the order of the cemetery.

After visiting, you’ll doubtless understand why when Harry Patch finally spoke about his war experiences at the age of 100. He said, simply, “It wasn’t worth it.”