Claude Stanley Choules, the last surviving World War I combat veteran, passed away today, aged 110, in a Perth nursing home. Choules joined the Royal Navy at the age of 15, starting a military career that spanned 41 years, across both world wars. He is survived by his three children.
Choules began service on HMS Revenge, the flagship of the First Battle Squadron, on which he played witness to the German Imperial Navy’s surrender, and the later scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow. His autobiography, released two years ago, includes some nice insight – including his meditations on learning to surf in South Africa, and observing the race divides of the era.
This leaves Florence Green, a UK-resident, a WWI Steward, as the last known living veteran (non-combat) of the First World War.
[Source: Canadian Press]
