Death and funeral Allingham died of natural causes in his sleep at 3:10 am on 18 July 2009 at his care home, Blind Veterans UK centre in Ovingdean near Brighton, aged 113 years and 42 days. After his death, Walter Breuning succeeded him as the world's oldest man. Allingham's funeral took place at St Nicholas' Church, Brighton at noon on 30 July 2009, with full military honours. His coffin was carried by three Royal Navy seamen and three RAF airmen. The service was preceded by a half-muffled quarter peal on the church's bells, rung by local ringers and members of the RAF and Royal Navy change ringing associations. Among the mourners were the Duchess of Gloucester, representing the Queen, and Veterans' Minister Kevan Jones. Senior Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officers, including Vice-Admiral Sir Adrian Johns and Air Vice-Marshal Peter Dye, represented the two services of which Allingham had been a member. Allingham's surviving daughter, Betty Hankin, 89, attended the funeral, with several members of her family. The funeral was followed by a flypast of five replica First World War aircraft; British and French buglers played the Last Post and Reveille; and a bell was tolled 113 times, once for each year of his life. The BBC commissioned Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate, to write a poem to mark the deaths of Allingham and Harry Patch, who died one week after Allingham on 25 July 2009. The result, "Last Post", was read by Duffy on the BBC Radio 4 programme Today on the day of Allingham's funeral. A tree was planted, and a commemorative plaque unveiled, at the Eastbourne Redoubt on 22 May 2010 to mark Allingham's residence in the town. See also List of British supercentenarians Florence Green, last surviving veteran of the World War I Women's Royal Air Force List of the oldest people by country List of the verified oldest people List of last surviving World War I veterans References Notes Autobiography External links 1896 births 2009 deaths Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic English autobiographers British supercentenarians Men supercentenarians Officiers of the Légion d'honneur People from Upper Clapton Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Navy sailors People from Brighton and Hove English male non-fiction writers Military personnel from London