On this day 18 July 2009
Published: 18 Jul 2013
On this day 18 July 2009 - Oldest RNAS veteran dies.
Henry William Allingham (6 June 1896 – 18 July 2009). Allingham was the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). He transferred to the Royal Air Force when the RNAS and the RFC were merged on 1 April 1918 and was formally discharged to the RAF Reserve on 16 April 1919.
Until he died, he was the oldest ever surviving member of any of the British Armed Forces, the oldest surviving veteran of the First World War and the world's oldest man.