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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 191411 November 1918). The total number of personnel who participated in the war is unknown, but there were an estimated nine million military casualties during the war.

Veterans, for the purposes of this list, have been agreed to be those that were members of the armed forces of one of the nations involved in the war, up to and including the date of the German armstice that ended the war on November 11th, 1918. Other World-War I era veterans are listed separately. This policy may vary from the policy in actual use in some countries.

Puerto Rico resident Emiliano Mercado del Toro, born 21 August 1891, is believed to be the oldest surviving veteran, and is, since 19 November 2004, the world's oldest verified living man.

Interestingly, the next three oldest verified living men (Moses Hardy, Maurice Floquet and Ernest Pusey) are also World War I veterans.

Aurora, Illinois resident William Olin, born 28 August 1904, is believed to be the youngest surviving veteran. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at the age of 13.


Living in Australia - 4 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Choules, Claude Stanley 1901 3 March British British Royal Navy Subsequently emigrated to Australia
Lucas, Sydney (Syd) 1900 21 September British British - 1st Sherwood Foresters Did not see action (was still in training when the war ended)
Ross, John Campbell 1899 11 March Australian Australian Last Australian digger
Young, William (Will) 1900 4 January British British Royal Flying Corps Moved to Australia after World War II

Living in Canada - 3 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Clemett, Victor Lloyd 1899 10 December Canadian Canadian Lives in Toronto
Powers, Gladys 1899 10 May Canadian British Lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia
Wilson, Dwight (Percy) 1901 26 February Canadian Canadian Lives in Oshawa

Living in France - 8 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
De Cazenave, Louis 1897 16 December French French
Floquet, Maurice Noël 1894 25 December French French
Grelaud, Jean 1898 26 October French French
Jaffré, François 1901 28 May French French Reintegrated in ONAC (Office national des anciens combattants) lists at the beginning of 2006. (served in submarine)
Lagaurnadie, Louis 1899 17 June French French Excluded in French government lists as it only counts those with more than 3 months of combat service.
Ponticelli, Lazarre 1897 7 December Italian French, Italian Birth name "Lazzaro". Moved to France in 1907. Served in French army first, later in Italian army.
Riffaud, René Félix 1898 19 December French French Reintegrated in ONAC (Office national des anciens combattants) lists at the beginning of 2006.
Tuveri, Justin 1898 15 May Italian Italian Birth name "Giustino".

Living in Germany - 9 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Brandmeier, Franz Xaver 1899 16 July German German Navy
Christmann, Rudolf 1900 10 January German German
Fuchs, Konrad 1897 15 October German German
Klöpper, Hans 1900 10 August German German
Künstler, Franz 1900 24 July German Austria-Hungary
Meier, Robert 1897 10 March German German
Seim, Rudolf 1899 31 January German German
Solveen, Hermann 1899 20 February German German
Velten, Wilhelm 1899 2 September German German

Living in Italy - 12 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Agazzi, Alberto 1899 30 January Italian Italian
Bertolami, Carmelo 1900 8 December Italian Italian Excluded from Italian government lists as it only counts those with more than 6 months of service.
Borroni, Delfino 1898 23 August Italian Italian
Carta, Giovanni Antonio 1899 28 December Italian Italian
Chiarello, Francesco Domenico 1898 5 November Italian Italian
Ciarniello, Annibale 1900 9 January Italian Italian Excluded from Italian government lists as it only counts those with more than 6 months of service.
Costanzo, Pasquale 1899 21 May Italian Italian
De Bettin Casanova, Antonia 1900 17 December Italian Italian Last Italian female veteran.
De Cristofaro, Domenico 1899 21 November Italian Italian
Sarrocco, Italo 1898 11 May Italian Italian
Saravalle, Ido Giorgetto 1899 16 November Italian Italian
Serioli, Battista 1900 26 November Italian Italian Excluded from Italian government lists as it only counts those with more than 6 months of service.

Living in Poland - 4 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Kosa, Jozef 1900 27 September Polish* German Resides in Sierakowice
Parniak, Pawel 1890? 27 February Polish* Austria-Hungary DOB claim is not authenticated
Solinski, Stanislaw 1900 11 February Polish* Russian Resides in Russia?
Wycech, Stanislaw 1902 Polish* ?

* "Polish nationality" refers to ethnic Poles at the outbreak of war in 1914, since Poland as a state regained its independence only in 1919, as a result of the Versailles Peace Treaty

Living in the United Kingdom - 7 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Allingham, Henry 1896 6 June British British - RNAS (later RAF) Granted Freedom of Eastbourne in April 2006
Cummins, Kenneth 1900 6 March British British - Royal Navy
Mayne, Phillip 1899 26 November British British - Royal Engineers Did not see action
Newman, John 1901 15 January British British - 16th London Regiment: Queen's Westminster Rifles Did not see action (was still in training)
Newcombe, Harry 1900 5 August British British - 8th Sussex Regiment Did not see action (was still in training)
Patch, Harry 1898 17 June British British - Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry Is also a WWII veteran
Stone, William (Bill) 1900 23 September British British - Royal Navy Did not see action (was still in training)

Living in the USA - 18 veterans

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Anderson, Homer 1897 24 December American USA-Balloon Corps Resides in Florida
Babcock, John F. 1900 23 July Canadian Canadian Resides in Spokane, Washington
Brown, Lloyd 1901 7 October American USA-Navy Resides in Maryland
Buchanan, Russell 1900 24 January American USA-Navy Resides in Watertown, Massachusetts, and is also a WWII veteran
Buckles, Frank Woodroff 1901 February 1 American USA-Army Resides in West Virginia
Coffey, J. Russell 1898 1 September American USA-Army Resides in Ohio
Gardner, Harold 1898 3 December American USA-Army Served in USA-army less than 24 hours, and resides in Pennsylvania
Goldberg, Samuel 1900 19 March American USA-Army(Cavalry) Resides in Greenville, Rhode Island
Hardy, Moses 1893 or 1894 6 January American USA Resides in Mississippi
Lincoln, Jim 1898 June American USA Resides in Oregon [VETERAN STATUS IN DISPUTE -- See Discussion Section for details and to weigh in]
Mercado del Toro, Emiliano 1891 21 August Puerto Rican USA Resides in Puerto Rico
Olin, William 1904 28 August American USA Enlisted at age thirteen, resides in Illinois [VETERAN STATUS IN DISPUTE -- See Discussion Section for details and to weigh in]
Pierro, Antonio 1896 22 February Italo-American USA Born in Italy as Antonio, a USA national, who resides in Swampscott, Massachusetts
Pusey, Ernest Charles 1895 5 May American USA-Navy Resides in Florida
Ramsey, Howard Verne 1898 2 April American USA-Army Resides in Oregon
Starkey, Maurice 1901 3 December American USA-Navy submariner Resides in Pennsylvania [VETERAN STATUS IN DISPUTE -- See Discussion Section for details and to weigh in]
Wagner, Albert F. (Jud) 1899 5 September American USA-Marines Resides in Kansas
Winters, Charlotte 1897 10 November American USA-Navy Resides in Maryland

Other World War I-Era Veterans - 2 veterans

Listed here are those that joined the armed services after the Armistice date, or where there is debate on their join-date, but are considered WWI-era vets by the press or the government.

Name DOB Nationality Force Served Notes
Munger, Stillman Hiram 1902 25 November American US Navy Resides in Massachusetts; WWI veteran status disputed
Rex, Robley H. 1901 4 May American USA Resides in Kentucky [1]

World Totals - 67 veterans

  • Totals joined by Armistice Day: 65
    • Allies (including Italy): 53
    • Central Powers: 11

See also

External links