From The Times and The Telegraph today:

Radiohead today launched a sombre musical tribute to Harry Patch, Britain’s longest surviving soldier from the First World War, who died last month.

The track, Harry Patch (In Memory Of), warns of the horrors of war. It was recorded live in an abbey a few weeks before the veteran’s death on July 25.

The singer Thom Yorke said he was inspired to compose the piece after hearing an interview with Mr Patch – affectionately known as the “Last Tommy” – a few years ago.

“The way he talked about war had a profound effect on me,” Mr Yorke said, on the band’s website.

“I very much hope the song does justice to his memory as the last survivor. It would be very easy for our generation to forget the true horror of war, without the likes of Harry to remind us. I hope we do not forget.”

The song, which combines a variety of stringed instruments with slow, haunting words, was premiered on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

Lyrics include the lines: “I am the only one that got through. The others died where ever they fell… I’ve seen devils coming up from the ground. I’ve seen hell upon this earth. The next will be chemical but they will never learn.”

Radiohead are not the first artists to have been moved by the remarkable story of Mr Patch, who served in the trenches as a private from June to September 1917. He fought at the battle of Passchendaele in 1917, when 70,000 British troops were killed.

Andrew Motion, when poet laureate, last year wrote The Five Acts of Harry Patch. The veteran himself also published his autobiography, The Last Fighting Tommy, in 2007.

Mr Patch passed away at his care home in Wells, Somerset. His funeral is due to take place at Wells Cathedral tomorrow.

Proceeds from the Radiohead track will go to the Royal British Legion, a charity for serving and former members of the Armed Forces. The song can be downloaded for £1.