One of Western Australia’s last surviving World War II veterans has told 6PR Mornings the Anzac spirit in Australia is stronger than ever.

Arthur Leggett, 103, spent four years as a prisoner of war in Germany and said the values embodied in the Anzac effort were ever present, 107 years to day since Australian troops reached Gallipoli as part of the country’s involvement in World War I.

“[The Anzac spirit] established our nation in the eyes of newcomers, and I trust the offspring of the newcomers will have gradually absorbed the meaning of Anzac, not so much the battle itself but the tradition and the beliefs behind it: we are a nation,” he told Mornings.

Leggett recited the Ode at the Fremantle Football Club’s Anzac tribute game at Optus Stadium on Saturday’s night, and has said previously how proud it would make him feel.

“It will be one of the highlights of my rather long existence because I will be reciting the ode with the knowledge of so many men who have gone before me,” he said.

Leggett looked back on his time in the war with great perspective.

“Being a prisoner of war is a horrible thing, but some of the nicest people I’ve met in all my life are Germans when I was a POW.”

Press PLAY below to hear more from the only remaining member of the 2/11th Australian Infantry battalion