Jim Pickston watched in horror as his whole platoon was killed in the First World War.

He was the only one to survive.

"And I just kept repeating to myself, 'Oh lord. I don't want to die. I'm too young to die' "

Pickston was also part of one of the most famous days in all war history. It was Christmas Day, 1916 when both sides stopped fighting for that one special day.

The men came out of their trenches, without their guns, to express a wish for peace.

Not a shot was heard that whole day.

"Not a shot. Just a peaceful day as Christmas Day should have been," he said.

Pickston was later wounded and became a prisoner of war, forced to work in German factories inside enemy lines.

Pickston was born on  Apr. 3, 1898 in Great Britain. He died on May 14, 1994.

He remained troubled that so many lives were lost for only "a few yards of mud."