saying "I don't mind — as long as it's not me." Allingham received a letter from Member of Parliament Tom Watson on 14 July 2006 explaining the reasoning for a national memorial service rather than a state funeral, as the intention is to commemorate the entire generation that fought in the war rather than single out an individual. In Harry Patch's book The Last Fighting Tommy, the author claims that Allingham planned to leave his body to medical science. In his own book, Kitchener's Last Volunteer, Allingham confirmed that he was intending to leave his body to medical science. However he was persuaded by Denis Goodwin to change his mind, as he became a symbol of World War I to remind people of the sacrifices made during the conflict. To that end, he agreed to a funeral and cremation. Awards War medals and awards Allingham was awarded four medals, two of which were medals from the First World War. The Gold Medal of Saint-Omer was awarded to Allingham on 11 September 2004 when he was given the Freedom of the Town of Saint-Omer. He was also awarded France's highest military honour, the Légion d'honneur, in which he was appointed a chevalier in 2003 and promoted to officier in 2009. The remaining two medals are British Campaign Medals from the First World War: the British War Medal and the Victory Medal; those two medals are colloquially known as "Mutt and Jeff". These two medals are replacement medals supplied by the Ministry of Defence after discovering at a recent cenotaph parade that Allingham's original campaign medals were destroyed during the Blitz of the Second World War. Honorary awards As well as the above-mentioned decorations, Allingham won several awards and honorary memberships. Examples include the Pride of Britain award, and a position as an honorary member of the Fleet Air Arm Association. Although not formally qualified he was recognised by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) who presented him with a Chartered Engineer award on 19 December 2008. Allingham had the following to say about the award: This was followed on 22 May 2009 with the award of an honorary doctorate in engineering at the Southampton Solent University by the university's chancellor, the former First Sea Lord Alan West, for his contribution to Britain and its allies during two world wars and his continuing charity work, especially connected with veteran servicemen and women.