Surviving veterans of World War I

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The following is a list of known surviving veterans of the First World War (July 28, 1914–November 11, 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 June 6, 1896, is currently the oldest living verified WWI veteran. Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico (August 21, 1891–January 24, 2007), who died aged 115, is the oldest authenticated veteran, from any conflict, to have ever lived. On May 27, 2008, the last Central Powers' veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died at age 107.

Contents 1 Verified veterans of the First World War—11 veterans 2 Unverified WWI veteran claims—2 veterans 3 World War I-era veterans—4 veterans 4 World totals—17 veterans 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Verified veterans of the First World War—11 veterans

The Canadian House of Commons has approved a state funeral for the last World War I veteran to have served in the Canadian forces to die.^[1] This is to honour the 600,000 Canadians who fought in that war. The only known surviving Canadian veteran is John Babcock who lives in the United States.

Similarly, on June 27, 2006, the British Government approved a National Memorial Service at Westminster Abbey to take place after the passing of the last known WWI veteran.^[2]

Residence	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Nationality	Force served	Notes
Australia	Choules, Claude Stanley	01901-03-03 3 March 1901	107	British	Royal Navy	Joined the Royal Navy in 1916; subsequently emigrated to Australia in 1920 and served with Royal Australian Navy in the Second World War. Lives in Perth, Western Australia.[3][4]
Australia	Lucas, Sydney (Syd)	01900-09-21 21 September 1900	107	British	British Army 1st Sherwood Foresters	Did not see action because he was still in training when the war ended. Moved to Australia in 1928 and served in the Australian Army in WWII.[5]
Australia	Ross, John Campbell	01899-03-11 11 March 1899	109	Australian	Australian Army	Wireless operator and last Australian digger.[6]
Canada	Powers, Gladys	01899-05-10 10 May 1899	109	British	Firstly WAAC, then WRAF	Served as a barracks waitress, now lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and is the last known female veteran of any country.[7]
Italy	Borroni, Delfino	01898-08-23 23 August 1898	109	Italian	Italian Army	Signed up in January 1917. Lives in Castano Primo, near Milan.[8]
Italy	Chiarello, Francesco Domenico	01898-11-05 5 November 1898	109	Italian	Italian Army	Called up in 1918. Also fought in WWII. Lives in Cirò Marina, Calabria.[9]
United Kingdom	Allingham, Henry William	01896-06-06 6 June 1896	112	British	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.[10][11]
United Kingdom	Patch, Henry John (Harry)	01898-06-17 17 June 1898	109	British	British Army Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry	Last British soldier who fought in the trenches.[12][13][14]
United Kingdom	Stone, William (Bill)	01900-09-23 23 September 1900	107	British	Royal Navy	Did not see action (was still in training), but is also a WWII veteran.[15]
United States	Babcock, John F.	01900-07-23 23 July 1900	107	Canadian	Canadian Army	Completed basic training, but did not see action: was held back in reserves in England due to age; moved to US in 1924 and resides in Spokane, Washington.[16][17]
United States	Buckles, Frank Woodruff	01901-02-01 1 February 1901	107	American	United States Army	Last US veteran. He served overseas, resides in Charles Town, West Virginia.[18][19][20]

[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. William Olin claims his veteran status himself, but this is currently unsupported by physical evidence or independent research.

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 Ekaterinoslav. Lives in Donetsk (Ukraine).[21]
United States	Olin, William	01904-08-28 28 August 1904	103	American	United States Army	Claims to have enlisted at age thirteen, resides in Chicago.[22]

[edit] World War I-era veterans—4 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 served in a related conflict.

Residence	Name	Date of Birth	Age	Nationality	Force served	Notes
Finland	Arvonen, Aarne Armas	01897-08-04 4 August 1897	110	Finnish	Red Guards	Served in the Finnish Civil War (1918). Currently the oldest person in Finland. Was recruited in 1914 to help build fortifications in Saint Petersburg, Russia.[23][24]
Poland	Kowalski, Józef	01900-02-02 2 February 1900	108	Polish	Polish Army	Resides in Tursk, near Sulęcin, and fought against the Bolsheviks at the end of WWI.[25][26][27]
United Kingdom	Taggart, Robert (Bob)	01900-06-28 28 June 1900	107	British	Royal Navy	Enlisted just after the end of the war. Scotland's oldest man.[28]
United States	Rex, Robley H.	01901-05-04 4 May 1901	107	American	United States Army	Resides in Louisville, Kentucky; claims enlisted in 1918, but other sources cite 1919.[29][30][31]

[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): 11
    • Allies: 11
    • Central Powers: 0
  • World War I Era: 4
• Unverified claims: 2

[edit] See also

• Last surviving United States war veterans
• Last surviving World War I veteran 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.

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 (729) · 2000 (471) · 2001 (307) · 2002 (199) · 2003 (161) · 2004 (166) · 2005 (96) · 2006 (52) · 2007 (34) · 2008 (8)

v • d • e Longevity Terminology Centenarian · Supercentenarian · Maximum life span · Life extension · Life expectancy Lists Oldest people · 100 verified oldest people · 100 verified oldest men · Centenarians · National longevity recordholders · Living national longevity recordholders · Living supercentenarians · American supercentenarians · British supercentenarians · Canadian supercentenarians · Dutch supercentenarians · French supercentenarians · Nordic supercentenarians · Portuguese supercentenarians · Longevity claims · Longevity myths · Oldest validated person by year of birth · Oldest people by U.S. state · Oldest living people by U.S. state · List of life extension-related topics War-related Last surviving United States war veterans · Surviving veterans of World War I · Last surviving World War I veteran by country · Surviving veterans of the Spanish Civil War Non-human Long-living organisms · List of oldest trees See also Gerontology · Ageing

v • d • e World War I
General	Main events	Topics	Participants	See also
Prelude: Causes Sarajevo assassination July Ultimatum Theatres: Western Front Eastern Front Italian Front Middle Eastern Theatre Balkan Theatre Atlantic Theatre African Theatre Pacific Theatre General timeline: WW I timeline See also: Female roles Literature Total war Veterans	1914: Battle of Liège Battle of Tannenberg Invasion of Serbia First Battle of the Marne First Battle of Arras Battle of Sarıkamış 1915: Mesopotamian campaign Battle of Gallipoli Italian Campaign Conquest of Serbia 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 Hundred Days Offensive Meuse-Argonne Offensive Armistice with Germany Armistice with Ottoman Empire	Military engagements Naval warfare Air warfare Cryptography People Poison gas Railways Technology Trench warfare Civilian impact and atrocities: Armenian Genocide Assyrian Genocide Pontic Greek Genocide Aftermath: Aftermath Casualties "Fourteen Points" League of Nations Paris Peace Conference Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire Spanish flu Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Treaty of Lausanne Treaty of Neuilly Treaty of St. Germain Treaty of Sèvres Treaty of Trianon Treaty of Versailles	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 more… Central Powers Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire Bulgaria	Contemporaneous conflicts: Mexican Revolution (1910-20) First Balkan War (1912-13) Second Balkan War (1913) Maritz Rebellion (1914-15) 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) Polish-Soviet War (1919-21) Polish-Lithuanian War (1920) Irish War of Independence also known as the Anglo-Irish War (1919-21) Turkish War of Independence including the Greco-Turkish War (1919-23) Irish Civil War (1922-23) More information on World War I: 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