News Date: Tuesday 31st March 2009
Henry Allingham
Tim Loughton MP has signed a Parliamentary Early Day Motion that ‘calls on the Government to honour’ Henry Allingham. The 112 year old is one of two surviving veterans of the First World War and has carried out charity work raising many thousands of pounds, reminding people about the sacrifices that our troops make on a daily basis. Mr Allingham has recently been awarded France’s highest badge of courage, the Legion d’Honneur, but has never been honoured by the United Kingdom. Mr Loughton said ‘Henry Allingham is not only Britain’s oldest war veteran, he is one the best known and most loved. All of us owe Mr Allingham a debt of gratitude and I call on the Government to honour Mr Allingham accordingly’.
EDM 1144
That this house welcomes the decision of the French Government to award the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest badge of courage, to Henry Allingham: expresses admiration for the way in which the 112 year-old has in recent years conducted himself with dignity and pride in reminding people in this country of the horrors of war and the sacrifice and courage shown by our servicemen and women; calls on the Government to honour Mr Allingham in a manner equivalent to that decided upon by the French Government; and welcomes the campaign by the Brighton-based Argus newspaper to achieve this
