List of surviving veterans of World War I

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The following is a list of known surviving veterans of the First World War (28 July 1914–11 November 1918). The total number of participating personnel is unknown, but there were an estimated nine million military casualties during the conflict.

Veterans, for this purpose, are defined as people who were members of the armed forces of one of the combatant nations up to and including the date of the Armistice. Other WWI-era veterans are listed separately. This policy may vary from the policy in actual use in some countries.

112-year-old Briton Henry Allingham, born 6 June 1896, is currently the oldest living verified WWI veteran. Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico (21 August 1891–24 January 2007), who died aged 115, is the oldest authenticated veteran, from any conflict, to have ever lived. On 27 May 2008, the last Central Powers' veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died at age 107.

Contents 1 Verified veterans of the First World War—12 veterans 2 Unverified WWI veteran claims—2 veterans 3 World War I-era veterans—3 veterans 4 World totals—17 veterans 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Verified veterans of the First World War—12 veterans

On 27 June 2006, the British Government approved a National Memorial Service at Westminster Abbey to take place after the death of the last known WWI veteran.^[1] Similarly, on 21 November 2006, the Canadian House of Commons approved a state funeral for the last World War I veteran to have served in the Canadian forces to die.^[2] This will now go to John Babcock. On 19 March 2008, Frank Buckles was approved for burial at Arlington National Cemetery upon his death.^[3]

On 25 October 2005, William Evan Allan received the Australian state funeral,^[4] as John Campbell Ross did not see active service. On 17 March 2008, despite the existence of Pierre Picault and Fernand Goux, Lazare Ponticelli received the French state funeral as the last poilu officially recognized by the French government.^[5] On 3 April 2008, Yakup Satar was similarly honoured in Turkey.^[6]

Residence	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Nationality	Force served	Notes
Australia	Choules, Claude Stanley	01901-03-03 3 March 1901	107	English	Royal Navy	Joined the Royal Navy in 1916. Emigrated to Australia in 1920 and served with Royal Australian Navy in the Second World War. Lives in Perth, Western Australia.[7][8]
Australia	Lucas, Sydney Maurice (Syd)	01900-09-21 21 September 1900	108	English	British Army 45th Sherwood Foresters	Did not see action (was still in training). Moved to Australia in 1928 and served in the Australian Army in WWII.[9]
Australia	Ross, John Campbell (Jack)	01899-03-11 11 March 1899	109	Australian	Australian Army 1st AIF	Wireless operator and last Australian digger.[10]
France	Goux, Fernand	01899-12-31 31 December 1899	108	French	French Army First 85th, then 82nd Infantry Regiment	Called to service on 19 April 1918. Excluded from French government lists as it only counts those with more than three months of combat service.[11]
France	Picault, Pierre	01899-02-27 27 February 1899	109	French	French Army	France's oldest man.[12]
Italy	Borroni, Delfino Edmondo	01898-08-23 23 August 1898	110	Italian	Italian Army 6th Bersaglieri Bologna	Last Italian veteran. Signed up in January 1917. Lives in Castano Primo, near Milan.[13]
United Kingdom	Allingham, Henry William	01896-06-06 6 June 1896	112	English	Number 12 Squadron RNAS (later RAF)	The last known survivor of the Battle of Jutland. Was granted the Freedom of Eastbourne in April 2006, and is the oldest European man.[14][15]
United Kingdom	Hughes, Netherwood (Ned)	01900-06-12 12 June 1900	108	English	British Army 51st Manchester Regiment	Did not see action (was still in training). Lives in Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire.[16]
United Kingdom	Patch, Henry John (Harry)	01898-06-17 17 June 1898	110	English	British Army 7th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry	Last British soldier who fought in the trenches.[17][18][19]
United Kingdom	Stone, William Frederick (Bill)	01900-09-23 23 September 1900	108	English	Royal Navy	Did not see action (was still in training), but is also a WWII veteran.[20]
United States	Babcock, John Henry Foster (Jack)	01900-07-23 23 July 1900	108	Canadian	First 146th Battalion, CEF, then Boys Battalion	Completed basic training, but did not see action (held back in reserves in England due to age). Moved to US in 1924 and resides in Spokane, Washington.[21][22]
United States	Buckles, Frank Woodruff	01901-02-01 1 February 1901	107	American	United States Army 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment	Last US veteran. Served overseas and now resides in Charles Town, West Virginia.[23][24][25]

[edit] Unverified WWI veteran claims—2 veterans

These are claims that were included in the press, but have not been verified by a government-sanctioned body or actual records located. To be a 'claim', there must be at least a citation.

Residence	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Nationality	Force served	Notes
Ukraine	Krichevsky, Mikhail Efimovich	01897-02-25 25 February 1897	111	Ukrainian	Russian Army	Claimed to have joined the Russian Army in June 1917. Was trained in a military-engineering school. In October 1917 he was sent to the Austro-Hungarian front. After the October Revolution he returned to his home in Yekaterinoslav. Now lives in Donetsk.[26]
United Kingdom	Terrey, Douglas (Doug)	01903-06-27 27 June 1903	105	English	British Army Ordnance Corps	Claimed to have joined AOC in 1917 as a despatch rider. Served in the Home Guard in World War II. Lives in Southampton.[27][28]

[edit] World War I-era veterans—3 veterans

Listed here are those who joined the armed services after the Armistice date, but before the Treaty of Versailles, or where there is debate on their join-date, or whose military service is sometimes viewed as outside the scope of "WWI", but are considered WWI-era vets by the press or by their respective governments, or who served in a related conflict.

Residence	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Nationality	Force served	Notes
Finland	Arvonen, Aarne Armas (Arska)	01897-08-04 4 August 1897	111	Finnish	Red Guards	Served in Finnish Civil War (1918). Currently oldest person in Finland and the last living Finnish citizen born in the 1890s. Recruited in 1914 to help build fortifications in Saint Petersburg.[29][30]
Poland	Kowalski, Józef	01900-02-02 2 February 1900	108	Polish	Polish Army 22nd Regiment Ułanów	Served in Polish-Soviet War and is the last survivor of that conflict. Took part in the September Campaign in WWII and later held in concentration camp. Lives in Tursk, near Sulęcin.[31][32][33]
United States	Rex, Robley H.	01901-05-04 4 May 1901	107	American	United States Army First 5th, then 28th Infantry	Resides in Louisville, Kentucky. Claims to have enlisted in 1918, but other sources cite 1919.[34][35][36]

[edit] World totals—17 veterans

• Verified claims of World War I and World War I Era: 15
  • World War I (Veterans who joined by Armistice Day): 12
  • World War I Era: 3
• Unverified claims: 2

[edit] See also

• Last surviving United States war veterans
• List of last surviving World War I veterans by country
• Surviving veterans of the Spanish Civil War
• List of notable last events

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Translated article & interview with Delfino Borroni, Italian veteran
• The Great War Society
• The Western Front Association – UK branch
• The Western Front Association – US branch
• The Great War Primary Documents Archive
• Public Radio Exchange (PRX) Walter Cronkite interviews some last surviving veterans of WWI
• Article about the remaining US veterans
• Table of the remaining veterans from this article
• World War One "The Great War"
• Article about Frank Buckles, the last US WWI vet to see action
• Last German World War I Veteran Believed to Have Died Article by David Crossland in Der Spiegel Online, 22 January 2008.
• Harry Patch at Ypres

v • d • e Lists of known World War I veterans' deaths by year Numbers in brackets indicate the number of veterans known to die that year 1999 (737) · 2000 (477) · 2001 (309) · 2002 (200) · 2003 (161) · 2004 (166) · 2005 (96) · 2006 (52) · 2007 (35) · 2008 (11)

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v • d • e World War I European theatre: (Balkans – Western Front – Eastern Front – Italian Front) Middle Eastern theatre: (Caucasus – Mesopotamia – Sinai and Palestine – Gallipoli – Persia) African theatre: (South-West Africa – West Africa – East Africa) Asian and Pacific theatre: (Siege of Tsingtao) Atlantic Ocean · Mediterranean Major participants (People) Entente Powers Russian Empire · French Empire: France, Vietnam · British Empire: United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa · Italy · Romania · United States · Serbia · Portugal · China · Japan · Belgium · Montenegro · Greece · Armenia Central Powers Germany · Austria-Hungary · Ottoman Empire · Bulgaria Timeline Pre-conflicts Mexican Revolution (1910–20) · First Balkan War (1912–13) · Second Balkan War (1913) · Maritz Rebellion (1914–15) · Indo-German Conspiracy (1914-1919) Prelude Origins · Causes · Sarajevo assassination · July Ultimatum 1914 Battle of Liège · Battle of Galicia · Invasion of Serbia · First Battle of the Marne · First Battle of Arras · Battle of Sarıkamış 1915 Battle of Gallipoli · Italian Campaign · Conquest of Serbia · Ctesiphon · Siege of Kut 1916 Battle of Verdun · Battle of the Somme · Battle of Jutland · Brusilov Offensive · Conquest of Romania · Great Arab Revolt 1917 Second Battle of Arras (Vimy Ridge) · Battle of Passchendaele · Capture of Baghdad · Conquest of Palestine 1918 Spring Offensive · Battle of Baku · Hundred Days Offensive · Meuse-Argonne Offensive · Armistice with Germany · Armistice with Ottoman Empire Post-conflicts Easter Rising (1916) · Russian Revolution (1917) · Russian Civil War (1917–21) · Finnish Civil War (1918) · North Russia Campaign (1918–19) · Wielkopolska Uprising (1918–19) · Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) · Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920) · Ukrainian War of Independence(1917–1921) · Polish–Soviet War (1919–21) · Polish–Lithuanian War (1920) · Irish War of Independence (1919–21) · Turkish War of Independence including the Greco-Turkish War (1919–23) · Irish Civil War (1922–23) Aspects Warfare Military engagements · Naval warfare · Air warfare · Cryptography · Poison gas · Railways · Technology · Trench warfare · Total war · Surviving veterans Civilian impact / atrocities Casualties · Spanish flu · Rape of Belgium · Ottoman Empire: (Armenian Genocide · Assyrian Genocide · Pontic Greek Genocide) · Female roles · Literature Agreements / Treaties Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire · London • Sykes-Picot • St.-Jean-de-Maurienne • French-Armenian • Damascus • Paris Peace Conference · Treaty of Brest-Litovsk · Treaty of Lausanne · Treaty of Neuilly · Treaty of St. Germain · Treaty of Sèvres · Treaty of Trianon · Treaty of Versailles Consequences Aftermath · "Fourteen Points" · League of Nations Category · Portal World War I from Wiktionary WWI Textbooks from Wikibooks WWI Quotations from Wikiquote WWI Source texts from Wikisource WWI Images & media from Commons WWI News stories from Wikinews