George Gledhill, a veteran of the First World War and believed to be York's oldest man, has died. He was 103.

Born in Burley-in-Wharfedale in West Yorkshire in 1894 when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, George was the youngest of eight children. His father Walter was a schoolteacher.

Young George was 20 when the First World War broke out in 1914. He was working on a Dales farm at the time and feared that poor eyesight might keep him from action.

So he memorised the letters on the test chart and got into the 5th West Yorkshires that way. But, because of his sight, he had to fire his rifle left-handed which was not allowed and he ended up in the transport department - a disappointment which probably saved his life.

He was at the battles of the Somme, Ypres and Passchendale, where he saw men "drown in the trenches in front of my very eyes. They were awful places and if a shell dropped near you, you were just smothered." It was George's job to take rations to the trenches.

His brother Horace was killed at the Somme and George was the only one of his friends who had set out from York in 1915 who was still alive at the end of the war. "I didn't know how I survived," he said later. "But, even though it was hell, we did our best to be cheerful. We tried to make it home, wherever we were. Youth, you know."

When the war ended George worked on farms between Durham and Doncaster, marrying his wife Nellie in 1922. They spent 70 happy years together and lived in Alma Terrace, York, for most of their married life. He spent his last three-and-a-half years in Oliver House, Bishophill Junior.

George made periscopes for Cook, Troughton and Sims in Bishophill, York, and also worked for British Rail.

He always attributed his long life to "taking a pinch of snuff, keeping out of pubs, clubs and betting shops, never playing bingo and never smoking."

He was told in 1930 by a friend that if he took a pinch of snuff a day he would live for another 60 years. In the event he exceeded those 60 years by another eight!

And, when asked what he thought was the greatest change in his lifetime, he replied: "Women's liberation."

George, who worshipped at Southlands Methodist Church, leaves three daughters, Hilda in Tadcaster, Elsie in Canada and Marion in York, 10 grandchildren and 18 grandchildren.

His funeral service and cremation will take place at York Crematorium on Thursday, March 19, at 1pm.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.