BRITAIN'S OLDEST MAN DIES, AGED 108 LONDON, OCT 24 (KUNA) -- BRITAIN'S OLDEST MAN HAS DIED PEACEFULLY IN HIS SLEEP AGED 108, IT WAS REVEALED HERE TUESDAY.
BILL LEE, WHO WAS OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED AS BRITAIN'S OLDEST MAN BY THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS IN AUGUST, DIED IN HIS SLEEP IN A STOKE-ON-TRENT HOSPITAL, NORTHERN ENGLAND, LAST WEEK, BUT IT WAS ONLY ANNOUNCED TODAY.
LEE, A FORMER BRITISH SOLDIER, WAS SHOT IN THE ARM AND BLINDED IN ONE EYE WHILE HE WAS SERVING IN FRANCE DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR (1914-1918).
HIS BRAVERY IN THE TRENCHES WAS FINALLY RECOGNISED EARLIER THIS SUMMER WHEN HE WAS AWARDED A MEDAL BY THE FRENCH AUTHORITIES.
DESPITE BEING BADLY INJURED DURING THE WAR, LEE RETURNED HOME TO MANAGE SUCCESSFULLY A MEN'S CLOTHING STORE IN STOKE-ON-TRENT, UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT, AGED 72.
A SPOKESWOMAN AT THE HILTON HOUSE RESIDENTIAL HOME, IN STOKE-ON-TRENT, WHERE LEE LIVED IN HIS LATER YEARS, SAID STAFF WERE VERY UPSET.
LEE LEAVES BEHIND A 98-YEAR-OLD BROTHER, TOM, SISTER ELSIE, AGED 100, FOUR GRANDCHILDREN, TEN GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, AND TWO GREAT-GREAT GRANDSONS. (END) HE.MAB KUNA 241926 Oct 00NNNN