Born in 1895, Allingham had the distinction of being Britain's only living veteran of both World Wars. He laughingly describes his great age to a love of "cigarettes, whiskey and wild, wild women."
Allingham's father died when he was a baby, and his mother tried to talk him out of serving in the military.
A familiar face at festivities to honor war veterans, Allingham describes himself as a pacifist. "War is stupid," he told the BBC. "Nobody wins. You might as well talk first, you have to talk last anyway."