AT 113, Henry Allingham was one of the last survivors of the First World War and also the world's oldest man.

He will be remembered for his efforts to keep the memory of the war alive to modern generations.

Mr Allingham's funeral took place on July 30, following a peaceful death in his sleep at St Dunstan's Home for blind ex-servicemen, Sussex, on July 18.

But it was in east London that he began his life.

Born in Upper Clapton in 1896, he was brought up by his mother and grandparents following his father's death from tuberculosis.

His mother died at 42 in 1914 and it was then that he joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a mechanic and body-builder.

Mr Allingham was sent to Chingford Aerodrome in 1915 and was later posted to Great Yarmouth, where he met his wife, Dorothy.

It was there he experienced Britain's first aerial attack when a German Zeppelin raid, aiming for the Humber estuary, mistakenly struck the Norfolk town.

In 1916, then formally ranked as an Air Mechanic Second Class, he joined the HMT Kingfisher and was part of the Battle of Jutland, described as the greatest battle of the First World War.

He returned to Chingford and married Dorothy Cater in 1919 and later joined car manufacturer Ford.

During the Second World War, he worked on weapons development and helped neutralise German magnetic mines.

He retired to Eastbourne in 1960, outliving his wife and both his daughters.

At the time of his death, he had six grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 13 great-great-grandchildren and one great-great-greatgrandchild.

Mr Allingham was given numerous honours throughout his life, including the Legion D'Honneur, and met the queen for the first time in 2003.

In 2004 he led the Lord's Prayer at a ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and in 2006, Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented him with a letter from the queen to mark his 110th birthday.

Following his funeral, which included a flypast of five replica First World War aircraft, he was buried in Brighton.