Tuesday - May 10, 2011

And Then There Were None

I missed this last week.

(May 5 2011) Claude Choules, the only remaining male veteran of World War I and one of the last people to have served in both world wars, died May 5 at a nursing home near Perth in western Australia. He was 110, and no cause of death was reported.

The former seaman, who was underage when he signed up for duty, witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy in 1918. He also watched as German sailors scuttled their own fleet at Scapa Flow, near Scotland, to avoid having the ships fall into British hands after the war.

Mr. Choules and another Briton, Florence Green, became the war’s last known surviving service members after the death of American Frank Buckles in February, according to the Order of the First World War, a U.S.-based group that tracks veterans.

Mr. Choules was the last known surviving combatant of the war. Green, who turned 110 in February, served as a waitress in the Women’s Royal Air Force.
...
He lied about his age so he could join the British Royal Navy in 1916, two years after the Great War began. Enlistees were supposed to be at least 18 years old.

He was the last known male survivor of more than 70 million military personnel who served during WWI. And it looks like Mrs. Green is the last living person who was even remotely connected to that conflict. She joined the WRAF shortly before the war ended in 1918 and served on an air base in Marham in Norfolk. Choules turned 110 on March 3.

RAF Marham was opened in 1916 and is still in use today, being the home base of the Tornadoes doing air strikes against Libya.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/10/2011 at 07:19 AM   
Filed Under: • Military •  
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