"Last Voices of World War 1 The Last Voices of World War 1 was a six-part series screened on The History Channel in the UK from Sunday 9 November 2008 to Sunday 14 December 2008 with a repeat during the week. Its initial episode was screened on Remembrance Sunday 2008. The series was made by Testimony Films. The show featured interviews shot by Steve Humphries and Richard van Emden in the early 1990s with many of the then surviving veterans who were, at that stage, well into their 90s. All of these veterans have subsequently died. Harry Patch appeared in"
"George Frederick Ives George Frederick Ives (17 November 1881 – 12 April 1993) was a British-Canadian army veteran, who became known as the last surviving veteran of the Boer Wars. Ives became known in the UK after a piece in the Peterborough Column in the Daily Telegraph (UK). His record as oldest British veteran, at 111 years, 146 days, of any war was broken on 1 November 2007 by First World War veteran Henry Allingham. Ives was born at Brighton, England. The family worked for the Tidmarsh family. He worked in his father's workshop in Bristol until 1899. That December,"
"Gladys Powers Gladys Stokes Luxford Powers (10 May 1899 – 15 August 2008) was thought to be, at age 109, the last female veteran of the First World War following the 27 March 2007 death of fellow 109-year-old Charlotte Winters from the US. However the subsequent discovery of fellow Britons Ivy Campany, who died on 19 December 2008, and Florence Green has disproved this. Regardless, Powers was the last veteran living in Canada, following the death of Dwight Wilson on 9 May 2007, the day before Powers' 108th birthday. The last Canadian-born veteran, 109-year-old John Babcock, later moved to the"
"photographs revealing the extent of their activities on the wreck of . The last surviving veteran of the battle, Henry Allingham, a British RAF (originally RNAS) airman, died on 18 July 2009, aged 113, by which time he was the oldest documented man in the world and one of the last surviving veterans of the whole war. Also among the combatants was the then 20-year-old Prince Albert, serving as a junior officer aboard HMS ""Collingwood"". He was second in the line to the throne, but would become king as George VI following his brother Edward's abdication in 1936. In 2013,"
"William Young (veteran) William Alexander Smillie Young, also known as Sandy Young, (4 January 1900 – 24 July 2007) was, at age 107, one of the last surviving British veterans of the First World War. He later emigrated to Australia, and was the last known veteran of the Royal Flying Corps, in which he served as a radio operator. Young was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, the eldest of the six children of Robert Craig Young. His family moved to Hayes in Middlesex when he was 13, when his father became the manager of a Scots Jams factory, and he was"
"become the RAF. He died in his sleep in Perth, aged 107, and was survived by his son, Alan, his wife May having predeceased him. William Young (veteran) William Alexander Smillie Young, also known as Sandy Young, (4 January 1900 – 24 July 2007) was, at age 107, one of the last surviving British veterans of the First World War. He later emigrated to Australia, and was the last known veteran of the Royal Flying Corps, in which he served as a radio operator. Young was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, the eldest of the six children of Robert Craig Young."
"the time, he was the last living veteran entitled to wear a Queen Victoria Medal and laid a wreath at the memorial. Ives died on 12 April 1993 at aged 111 years, 146 days in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. George Frederick Ives George Frederick Ives (17 November 1881 – 12 April 1993) was a British-Canadian army veteran, who became known as the last surviving veteran of the Boer Wars. Ives became known in the UK after a piece in the Peterborough Column in the Daily Telegraph (UK). His record as oldest British veteran, at 111 years, 146 days, of"
"Philip Mayne Philip Mayne (22 November 1899 – 9 April 2007) was an English centenarian who was thought to have been the last surviving British officer of the First World War until his death at 107. He is also thought to have been the oldest surviving member of Christ's Hospital, of the University of Cambridge Engineering Department, of King's College, Cambridge and indeed of the whole University of Cambridge. Mayne was born in Hampstead. His father was a caterer. He won a scholarship to Christ's Hospital and then to King's College, Cambridge, but the Great War intervened. Mayne became a"
"world; after Allingham died, that title passed to Walter Breuning of Montana. On 13 February 2007, he became Britain's second-oldest living person, behind Florrie Baldwin, and on 29 March 2009, he became the oldest ever British man, surpassing Welshman John Evans who died aged 112 years and 295 days. He was also the first ever verified British man to reach the age of 113. On 18 July 2009, Allingham died of natural causes aged 113 years and 42 days. As the number of First World War veterans dwindled, calls grew to give the last remaining veteran a state funeral. The"
"London. On 22 June 2018 he was honoured by having a train named after him. Johnny Johnson (RAF officer) Squadron Leader George Leonard ""Johnny"" Johnson, (born 25 November 1921) is a retired Royal Air Force officer and Britain's last survivor of the original members of No. 617 Squadron RAF and of Operation Chastise, the ""Dambusters"" raid of 1943. George Johnson (known within the family as Leonard) was the sixth and last child born to Mary Ellen (née Henfrey) and Charles Johnson. He was born in the village of Hameringham in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. His mother died"
"111, by which time he was the last soldier to have fought in the trenches during World War One as well as the second last surviving British war veteran and one of four surviving soldiers from the conflict worldwide. His memoir, ""The Last Fighting Tommy"" (published in 2007) records his Combe Down childhood in some detail. His funeral cortège passed through Combe Down village on its way to his burial in Monkton Combe churchyard. Herbert Lambert FRPS (1881–1936), society portrait photographer and harpsichord and clavichord maker. Frederic Weatherly (1848–1929), the composer of the song Danny Boy, lived at Grosvenor Lodge"
"Henry Allingham Henry William Allingham (6 June 1896 – 18 July 2009) was an English supercentenarian, he was also the oldest surviving man ever from the United Kingdom, First World War veteran and, for one month, the verified oldest living man in the world. He is also the second oldest military veteran ever and, at the time of his death, he was the 12th-verified oldest man of all time. Allingham was the oldest ever surviving member of any of the British Armed Forces and one of the oldest surviving veterans of the First World War. He was the last survivor"
"2013 at the age of 98, almost six-and-a-half months short of his 99th birthday. He was the oldest surviving Second World War British prisoner of war. His wife had earlier died at the age of 84. BBC Radio 2 broadcast a tribute to Fripp, which ended with David Bowie's song ""Heroes"", which features the guitar playing of Fripp's nephew, Robert Fripp; in this show, the guitarist shared recorded interviews with his ""Uncle Bill"". Alfie Fripp Alfred George Fripp (13 June 1914 –3 January 2013), known as ""Alfie"" or ""Bill"", was a British Royal Air Force squadron leader who was a"
"8th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment, and was awarded the Military Medal for protecting a lieutenant from enemy fire by flanking him as he traveled along battlefield lines at the Somme to his base. He died just two weeks shy of his 105th birthday. In November 2005, interviews of his wartime experiences, that had been recorded shortly before his death, were broadcast on BBC One, in ""The Last Tommy"". Jim Lovell (British Army soldier) James Lovell MM (10 February 1899 – 27 January 2004), known as Jim Lovell, was one of the last British veterans of the First World"
"I, Harry Patch (at 111 the oldest man in the United Kingdom and also in Europe), left Claude Choules as the last serviceman of the British forces in World War I. There was a growing opinion that the passing of the last of them should be marked in an appropriate manner. This was the subject of a cross-party campaign led by the politician Iain Duncan Smith. It was originally proposed that the last veteran to die should be given a state funeral. However, this met with opposition from the veterans themselves, few of whom wanted to be singled out in"
"until retiring in 1958 after 29 years service. His daughter Charlotte is a noted film actress. He was, as of October 2007, the last surviving male athletics medallist from the 1932 Summer Olympics and the last male gold medallist in athletics from the 1936 Summer Olympics. Rampling was Britain's oldest living Olympic Gold medallist and also oldest living Olympic competitor. He celebrated his centenary with his family on 14 May 2009 at Bushey in Hertfordshire. Rampling died in his sleep aged 100 on 20 June 2009. Godfrey Rampling Godfrey Lionel Rampling (14 May 1909 – 20 June 2009) was an"
"the time of her death. Ivy Campany Ivy Lillian Campany (23 September 1901 – 19 December 2008) was, at age 107, the second from last World War I female army veteran of any country. The last was Florence Green (1901–2012), who was not identified as a veteran of the conflict until January 2010. This meant that Campany was believed to be the conflict's last surviving female veteran by the time of her death in December 2008. Campany joined Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War I and would later serve as a fire watcher in World War II. She"
"Henry Allingham, the last veteran of The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and founder member of The Royal Air Force (RAF), aged 113. The Prince of Wales led the tributes to him, saying: ""Today, nothing could give me greater pride than paying tribute to Harry Patch, of Somerset"". Patch was the last male First World War veteran living in Europe and the last British male known to have been born in the 1890s. Patch's funeral was held in Wells Cathedral on Thursday 6 August 2009. At 11:00 a.m., the bells of Wells Cathedral were rung 111 times to mark each"
"Harry Newcombe Harry John Newcombe (5 August 1900 – 18 March 2006) was, at age 105, one of only a few surviving British veterans of the First World War when he died in 2006. Newcombe was born in Islington and joined the British Army in 1918 as a private in the Royal Sussex Regiment. When the war ended, he was still in training. He did however spend a year in Germany as part of the army of occupation. Following the war he resumed his trade as a railwayman, retiring in 1965. He recalled once serving Winston Churchill a drink who"
"in memory of Buckles. Attendees made donations for a planned statue of him in Charles Town. In addition to being the last U.S. veteran of World War I, Buckles was the oldest World War I veteran in the world at the time of his death, as well as the last field veteran of the war. Following his death and funeral, there were two surviving World War I veterans, British-born Florence Green and British Australian citizen Claude Choules, both of whom served in the British Armed Forces. Choules died on May 5, 2011; Green died on February 4, 2012. For his"
"Ivy Campany Ivy Lillian Campany (23 September 1901 – 19 December 2008) was, at age 107, the second from last World War I female army veteran of any country. The last was Florence Green (1901–2012), who was not identified as a veteran of the conflict until January 2010. This meant that Campany was believed to be the conflict's last surviving female veteran by the time of her death in December 2008. Campany joined Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War I and would later serve as a fire watcher in World War II. She lived in Margate, Kent at"
"Bill Stone (Royal Navy sailor) William Frederick ""Bill"" Stone (23 September 1900 – 10 January 2009) was one of the last surviving five First World War veterans who served in the United Kingdom's armed forces and one of the last surviving two seamen worldwide, along with Claude Choules. They were also the last two to have also served in the Second World War, although Stone saw action only in the Second World War as he was still in training when the First World War ended. Stone was born in Ledstone, Kingsbridge, Devon and enlisted in the Royal Navy on his"
"of 105. William Roberts (veteran) William Roberts (29 September 1900 – 30 April 2006), often known as Bill Roberts, was one of the final surviving British veterans of the First World War. As a fourteen-year-old boy Roberts was present in Hartlepool during the Imperial German Navy's bombardment. After Roberts' father was killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, he joined the RFC. William, who worked as an aircraft fitter, claimed to have flown with T. E. Lawrence. After the war he became a local authority transport manager. Roberts lived in Jacksdale until his death in April 2006 at"
"the United Kingdom. Florence Green Florence Beatrice Green (née Patterson; 19 February 1901 – 4 February 2012) was an English woman who was the last known surviving veteran of the First World War from any country. She was a member of the Women's Royal Air Force. Florence Green was born at Edmonton, London, to Frederick and Sarah (née Neal) Patterson. She joined the Women's Royal Air Force in September 1918 at the age of 17, where she served as an officers' mess steward. She worked in the officers' mess at RAF Marham and was also based at Narborough airfield. In"
"gave him a cigar as a tip. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Air Force as a movements clerk. He was only traced as a surviving veteran of the First World War in 2003. Newcombe lived in Worthing, West Sussex until his death at age 105 after a long illness following a stroke. Harry Newcombe Harry John Newcombe (5 August 1900 – 18 March 2006) was, at age 105, one of only a few surviving British veterans of the First World War when he died in 2006. Newcombe was born in Islington and joined the British"
"Jim Lovell (British Army soldier) James Lovell MM (10 February 1899 – 27 January 2004), known as Jim Lovell, was one of the last British veterans of the First World War and the last surviving decorated ""Tommy"". He joined the army in September 1916, but was not sent to the Western Front until April 1918, due to his age. At the time of his enlistment, two of his brothers were already in the army, one of whom had been wounded at Mons, whilst one of his sisters was in the Royal Flying Corps. Lovell served as a scout in the"
"a poem, ""Goodnight Kiss"", by writer Philip Parker. Leeds Civic Trust and partners are to unveil a memorial plaque to him at Leeds Central railway station in November 2018 and, as of September 2018, were running a crowd-funder campaign to that end. George Edwin Ellison George Edwin Ellison (10 August 1878 – 11 November 1918) was the last British soldier to be killed in action during the First World War. He died at 09:30 am (90 minutes before the armistice came into effect) while on a patrol on the outskirts of Mons, Belgium. Ellison was born in York and later"
"Bertie Felstead Bertie Felstead (28 October 1894 – 22 July 2001) was a British soldier, World War I veteran and centenarian who gained fame at the end of his life as (or was believed so at the time to be) the last surviving soldier to have taken part in the Christmas truce of 1914. Felstead, who was born in London in October 1894, was called to action earlier in 1915 and went to the battlefields of France with the 15th (London Welsh) Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. On Christmas Day that year, he took part in the famous truce with German"
"Jerzy Pajączkowski-Dydyński Jerzy Kazimierz Pajączkowski-Dydyński (19 July 1894 – 6 December 2005) was a British-based Polish veteran of World War I and UK's oldest man at the time of his death at the age of 111 years, 140 days, and one of the last surviving veterans of the First World War living in the UK. He died at a nursing home in Cumbria. In 1915, he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army. He later fought for Poland. Pajączkowski-Dydyński, a former colonel, escaped from the German invasion that triggered World War II in 1940, and worked as a gardener in Scotland"
"the trenches in the war, died on 25 July 2009 at the age of 111. Their deaths left Claude Choules, who served in the Royal Navy during the war and who lived in Australia until his death in 2011, as the last surviving British veteran. Duffy said that she felt that she should ""honour that great tradition of poets who were also soldiers"", describing the poem as ""an attempt at healing and being at one with the world"", and ""a tribute and blessing, even an apology, on behalf of poetry and all poets."" She added that she ""had been thinking"
"Jack Davis (veteran) John Edward 'Jack' Davis (1 March 1895 – 20 July 2003) was one of the last surviving British veterans of the First World War and the last of Kitchener's Volunteers. He died aged 108, by which point he was the oldest living British veteran of the First World War. He once made a famous speech about his life: ""I would not agree to participate in any form of warfare again. Wars have proved nothing, other than that everyone emerges from them as a loser in some way or another. I joined up in 1914, aged 19, in"
"of the Savoy in Bangor on 4 August 2014 Photo of plaque at Savoy Thomas Shaw (World War I veteran) Thomas Shaw (June 1899 – 2 March 2002) was the last known Irish World War I British Army veteran. He served in the Royal Irish Rifles after joining up in 1916 and fought in battles such as Passchendaele. Shaw was born in Belfast, Ireland (now Northern Ireland), in June 1899. He first enlisted as a rifleman at 15 in 1914 and went into battle, but was sent home after his brother, a military policeman, met him by chance while in"
"1955 after meeting her on an earlier voyage from Sydney Australia and their two sons, two daughters and six grandchildren. Kenneth Cummins Captain Kenneth Alfred Hugo Cummins (6 March 1900 – 10 December 2006) was, at age 106, one of the last surviving British veterans of the First World War. He served in the Royal Naval Reserve in the First World War, as a (Temporary) Midshipman,(15 July 1918 – 18 January 1919) and then in the Merchant Navy in the Second World War. Kenneth Cummins was born in Richmond, London. His father was an officer in the Merchant Navy. He"