List of surviving veterans of World War I

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The following is a list of known surviving veterans of World War I (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918). The total number of participating personnel is estimated by the Encyclopaedia Britannica at 65,038,810. There were approximately 9,750,103 military deaths 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 World War I-era veterans are listed separately. This policy may vary from the policy in actual use in some countries.

The oldest living verified World War I veteran is 109-year-old John Babcock, born 23 July 1900. 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, ever to have lived. On 27 May 2008, the last Central Powers veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died at the age of 107.

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

[edit] Verified veterans of World War I–3 veterans

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.^[1] This will now go to John Babcock should he accept it. On 19 March 2008, Frank Buckles was approved for burial at Arlington National Cemetery upon his eventual death.^[2]

Nationality	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Residence	Force served	Notes
United Kingdom	Choules, Claude Stanley	01901-03-03 3 March 1901	108	Australia	Royal Navy	Last seaman and last UK veteran. Last veteran who served in both World Wars. Joined in 1916. Last witness to the German Naval surrender. Moved to Australia in 1926 and served with Royal Australian Navy in World War II. Lives in Perth, Western Australia.[3][4][5][6]
Canada	Babcock, John Henry Foster (Jack)	01900-07-23 23 July 1900	109	United States	First 146th, CEF, then Boys Battalion	Last Canadian veteran. Eligible for state funeral. Joined in 1916. Completed training in UK but did not see action due to age. Moved to US in 1924. Lives in Spokane, Washington.[7][8]
United States	Buckles, Frank Woodruff	01901-02-01 1 February 1901	108	United States	United States Army 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment	Last American veteran. Eligible for burial at Arlington. Joined in 1917. Ambulance driver near Western Front. Held prisoner in World War II as a civilian. Lives in Charles Town, West Virginia.[9][10]

[edit] Unverified World War I veteran claims–1 veteran

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.

Nationality	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Residence	Force served	Notes
United Kingdom	Terrey, Douglas Edward (Doug)	01903-06-23 23 June 1903	106	United Kingdom	British Army Ordnance Corps	Claimed to have joined up in 1917 as bicycle courier delivering messages in the Southampton Military District. Served in Home Guard in World War II. Lives in Southampton, Hampshire.[11][12]

[edit] World War I-era veterans–1 veteran

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 World War I, but are considered World War I-era veterans by the press or by their respective governments; or who served in a related conflict.

Nationality	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Residence	Force served	Notes
Poland	Kowalski, Józef	01900-02-02 2 February 1900	109	Poland	Polish Army 22nd Regiment Ułanów	Polish-Soviet War veteran. Took part in September Campaign in World War II and later held in concentration camp. Poland's oldest man. Lives in Tursk, near Sulęcin.[13][14][15][16]

[edit] World totals—5 veterans

• Verified claims of World War I and World War I Era: 4
  • World War I (Veterans who joined by Armistice Day): 3
  • World War I Era Veterans: 1
• Unverified claims: 1

[edit] See also

• List of last living war veterans
• Last surviving United States war veterans
• Surviving U.S. veterans of World War II
• List of last surviving World War I veterans by country
• Surviving veterans of the Spanish Civil War
• List of last occurrences
• List of last veterans of World War I by country and branch of service

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 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
• World War One "The Great War"

v • d • e Lists of known World War I veterans' deaths by year Numbers in brackets indicate the number of veterans known to have died that year 1999 (762) · 2000 (500) · 2001 (319) · 2002 (208) · 2003 (168) · 2004 (166) · 2005 (95) · 2006 (52) · 2007 (37) · 2008 (17) · 2009 (5)

v • d • e Longevity Terminology Centenarian · Supercentenarian · Maximum life span · Life extension · Life expectancy Issues Alleged Brazilian supercentenarians · Disputed claims · Longevity claims · Longevity myths Lists Oldest people · Longest marriages · Oldest people by year of birth · 100 verified oldest people (100 verified oldest men · 100 verified oldest women) · Centenarians · National longevity recordholders · Living national longevity recordholders · Oldest people by U.S. state · Oldest living people by U.S. state · Life extension-related topics · Living supercentenarians Supercentenarians by continent (African · Americas · European) · By nation or subregion (Australian · Austrian · Belgian · British · Canadian · Dutch · French · German · Italian · Japanese  · Nordic · Portuguese · Spanish · United States ) War-related lists Last living war veterans · Last war veterans (European · United States · Canadian) · World War I (Surviving veterans · Last surviving veterans by country · Last surviving veterans by country and branch of service) · Surviving veterans of the Spanish Civil War Non-human Long-living organisms · List of oldest trees · List of oldest dogs See also Gerontology · Ageing · Extreme longevity tracking · FOXO3 longevity gene

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 · West · East · North) Asian and Pacific theatre: (Siege of Tsingtao) Atlantic Ocean · Mediterranean Major participants (People) Entente Powers Russian Empire/Republic · 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 · Brazil Central Powers Germany · Austria–Hungary · Ottoman Empire · Bulgaria Timeline Pre-conflicts Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) · Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912) · First Balkan War (1912–1913) · Second Balkan War (1913) Prelude Origins · Sarajevo assassination · July Ultimatum 1914 Battle of the Frontiers · Battle of Cer · First Battle of the Marne · Battle of Tannenberg · Battle of Galicia · Battle of the Masurian Lakes · Battle of Kolubara · Battle of Sarıkamış · Race to the Sea  · First Battle of Ypres 1915 Second Battle of Ypres · Battle of Gallipoli · Battles of the Isonzo · Great Retreat · Conquest of Serbia · Siege of Kut 1916 Erzerum Offensive · Battle of Verdun · Lake Naroch Offensive · Battle of Asiago · Battle of Jutland · Battle of the Somme · Brusilov Offensive · Conquest of Romania 1917 Capture of Baghdad · Second Battle of Arras · Kerensky Offensive · Third Battle of Ypres · Battle of Caporetto · Battle of Cambrai 1918 Armistice of Erzincan · Treaty of Brest-Litovsk · Spring Offensive · Hundred Days Offensive · Meuse-Argonne Offensive · Battle of Megiddo · Battle of Vittorio Veneto · Armistice with Germany · Armistice with Ottoman Empire Other conflicts Maritz Rebellion (1914–1915) · Indo-German Conspiracy (1914–1919) · Easter Rising (1916) · Russian Revolution (1917) · Finnish Civil War (1918) Post-conflicts Russian Civil War (1917–1921) · Armenian–Azerbaijani War (1918–1920) · Georgian–Armenian War (1918) · German Revolution (1918–1919) · Hungarian–Romanian War (1918–1919) · Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) · Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) · Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920) · Lithuanian Wars of Independence (1918–1920) · Ukrainian War of Independence (1917–1921) · Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921) · Polish–Lithuanian War (1920) · Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) · Turkish War of Independence including the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1923) · Russian invasion of Georgia (1921) · Irish Civil War (1922–1923) 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 People: (Armenian Genocide · Assyrian Genocide · Pontic Greek Genocide) · Female roles · Literature Agreements / Treaties Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire · Sykes-Picot • St.-Jean-de-Maurienne • French-Armenian • Damascus • Paris Peace Conference · Treaty of Brest-Litovsk · Treaty of Lausanne · Treaty of London · 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