Last combat veteran of the First World War has died
Claude Choules.
British-born Claude Choules has died in Perth, Australia, aged 110. He was the last known combat veteran of the First World War.
Claude Choules was born in Worcestershire in 1901 and joined the Royal Navy aged just 14. Two years later, he began serving in the huge battleship, HMS Revenge.
Choules, nicknamed ‘Chuckles’ by his comrades, witnessed the historic moment in June 1919 when the German Fleet was deliberately scuttled at Scapa Flow.
He later described the sight of ‘ships going all over the place’ as Revenge sailed between the wreckage.
Choules transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1926. On a voyage to Australia that year he met his future wife, Ethel. They later settled in Fremantle and were married for 76 years.
“As we went through the entrance we could see the German ships. Some of them had sunk and others were going over and sinking.”
The scuttled German destroyer G 102 at Scapa Flow. Choules witnessed the events from HMS Revenge. (© Imperial War Museum)
Choules served during the Second World War as the chief demolition officer for Western Australia. His wartime exploits included destroying the first mine that washed up on Australian soil during the conflict, and clearing 15 wrecked flying boats from the port of Broome.
Despite his long military career – he finally retired in 1956 – Choules later became a pacifist. His large family was, he said, the most important thing to him.
When he was in his 80s, Choules took lessons in writing. His autobiography, The Last of the Last, was published when he was 108 and tells the remarkable story of his service in two world wars.
When asked the secret to his long life, Claude ‘Chuckles’ Choules replied, typically, that he just kept breathing. “I’ve had the luckiest life in the world, I reckon,” he once remarked, “If I had my time over again, I’d do exactly what I did do.”
