Claude Choules

British combat, last living First World War veteran in the world

Claude Choules (3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011)[1] was a British-Australian World War I veteran who served in the Royal Navy.

Claude Choules
NicknameChuckles
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Australia Australia
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Royal Australian Navy
Years of service1916 – 1956
RankActing Torpedo Officer, Fremantle
Chief Demolition Officer
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II

Biography

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World War I & World War II

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Born in Wyre Piddle, son of Harry & Madeline (née Winn), near Pershore, Worcestershire, Choules joined the Royal Navy as a young man in 1916, and served aboard the Naval Training Ship HMS Circe at Plymouth. In 1917, he joined the battleship HMS Revenge, which was the flagship of the First Battle Squadron. While serving aboard her, Choules witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy at the Firth of Forth in 1918, ten days after the Armistice, and was also to witness the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow. During World War II, Choules was the Acting Torpedo Officer of Fremantle and also the Chief Demolition Officer on the western side of the Australian continent. He was tasked with sabotaging Fremantle harbors and related oil storage tanks in the event of a Japanese invasion.

He died on 5 May 2011 in Perth, Western Australia at 110 years old.

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References

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  1. "Last veteran of WW1 Claude Choules dies - Telegraph". Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2018-04-01.