| THE public will have the chance to say goodbye to one of Australia's longest-surviving World War I veterans, Marcel Caux, after his family today accepted the offer of a state funeral. Born on March 1, 1899, he was just 16 when in September 1915 he lied about his age to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force in Sydney, to eventually fight with the 17th and 20th battalions on the Somme. NSW Premier Bob Carr last night offered Mr Caux's family a state funeral to honour his life and contributions to battle in Egypt, France and on the Western Front, where he was wounded three times. |