AS THE nation remembered yesterday at parades across Hampshire and around the country, it was a poignant time for former Royal Navy captain, Henry St John Fancourt.

Now 103 and living in a Lymington rest home, he is just one of 27 men who remain today from the 8.5 million Britons who served during the First World War.

Captain Fancourt, who holds the Distinguished Service Order, can reflect on a 40-year career in uniform which spanned both world wars and two armed services.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1916 as a midshipman and saw action the same year during the Battle of Jutland - the largest naval engagement of the First World War.

In the wake of the First World War he was a junior officer aboard the battleship HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow to witness the scuttling of the surrendered German fleet.

Between the wars he studied at Cambridge and in 1924 was selected for flying training during which time he held both Royal Navy and Royal Air Force commissions before becoming a pilot in the fledgling Fleet Air Arm.

Capt Fancourt was awarded the DSO the following year for his role in commanding a special force detailed to make a direct assault on Algiers harbour during the North African campaign.

"I am not remarkable, just lucky," asserted Capt Fancourt.

"I have very clear recollections of those days and I am glad to use them, but it was a long time ago and life does go on."

"It is all history now and only the major events will be remembered."

A year ago, just 43 First World War servicemen survived.

With the passing of each year, those numbers get fewer.

Dennis Goodwin from the World War One Veterans' Association said: "People say that we owe the Great War soldiers a debt of gratitude, but I passionately feel we owe these gentlemen more than that.

"We have a duty to understand what these men suffered, something later generations can't begin to understand.

"I served during the Second World War but I don't think it's possible to begin to imagine the horrific scenes which these men witnessed in the trenches.