Claude Choules

Claude Choules
Claude Choules in uniform (1936)
Born	3 March 1901(1901-03-03) Pershore, Worcestershire, England[1]
Died	5 May 2011(2011-05-05) (aged &10000000000000110000000110 years, &1000000000000006300000063 days) Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Allegiance	United Kingdom Australia
Service/branch	Royal Navy Royal Australian Navy
Years of service	1916–1956
Rank	Acting Torpedo Officer, Fremantle Chief Demolition Officer
Battles/wars	World War I World War II

Claude Stanley Choules (pronounced /ˈʃuːlz/;^[2] 3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011) was the last World War I combat veteran in the world,^[3] and was the last military witness to the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow. He was also the last veteran to have served in both world wars, and the last seaman from the First World War. At the time of his death, he was also the third oldest verified military veteran in the world and the oldest known living man in Australia.^[4][5] He was the seventh-oldest living man in the world. Choules became the oldest man born in the United Kingdom following the death of Stanley Lucas on 21 June 2010. Choules died in Perth, Western Australia, at the age of 110.^[6][7]

Early life and naval training

Claude Choules was born in Pershore,^[1] Worcestershire, on 3 March 1901 and raised in nearby Wyre Piddle. The son of Harry and Madeline (née Winn), Claude was one of seven children, although two died in early childhood. The surviving siblings were Douglas, Leslie, Phyllis, and Gwendoline.^[8] His mother left home when Claude was five, returning to the stage as an actress, and he and his older brothers were raised by his father. His older sister Phyllis lived with the family of a paternal uncle, while his younger sister Gwendoline was adopted by the family of a paternal aunt.^[9] Both Claude and his older brothers went to Pershore National Boys' School (see national school), though Douglas (born 1893) and Leslie (born 1894) emigrated to Western Australia in 1911.^[10]

Choules was 13 at the start of World War I, and the family received letters from Leslie and Douglas who had joined the Australian Imperial Force and landed at Anzac Cove and fought during the Gallipoli Campaign. Choules was able to leave school when he turned 14, at which point he attempted to enlist in the army as a bugler boy but was rejected as too young.^[11] Choules' father then arranged for him to train to join the navy instead, and in April 1915, at age 14, he joined the nautical training ship TS Mercury.^[12]

This training ship was moored on the River Hamble, near Southampton, Hampshire, and had a dormitory ship called HMS President that had previously been HMS Gannet.^[13] The commander of the Mercury training site was the cricketer C. B. Fry, and Choules' time there included trips to Netley Hospital as part of the Mercury's dancing team.^[14] The examinations taken by Choules following his training on the Mercury qualified him to attend the Advanced Class on the naval training ship HMS Impregnable situated at the Devonport naval base in Plymouth. Choules transferred there in October 1916, for what was to be the final stage of his training before joining the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet.^[15]

Military service

In 1917, Choules joined the battleship HMS Revenge, which was the flagship of the First Battle Squadron and stationed at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. While serving aboard it, Choules saw action against a German zeppelin,^[16] and witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy at the Firth of Forth in 1918, ten days after the Armistice, as well as witnessing the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow.^[17]

In 1926, along with 11 other Royal Navy senior sailors, Choules travelled to Australia on loan as an instructor at Flinders Naval Depot. He travelled on the SS Diogenes on a 6-week voyage from London to Melbourne, and it was on this voyage that he met his future wife Ethel Wildgoose who was travelling to Australia to carry out work for the Victoria League.^[18] Choules decided to transfer permanently to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) after sampling and agreeing with the Australian way of life. In fact, he was only two days younger than the RAN, which was established on 1 March 1901.^[19]

He took his discharge from the RAN in 1931, but remained in the reserves and rejoined the RAN in 1932 as a Chief Petty Officer Torpedo and Anti Submarine Instructor. He never once returned to England after leaving.^[20]

During the Second World War, Choules was the Acting Torpedo Officer based at Fremantle, Western Australia,^[21] and also served as the Chief Demolition Officer on the western side of the Australian continent.^[17] He was tasked with sabotaging Fremantle harbours and related oil storage tanks in the event of a Japanese invasion.^[21] Choules was also responsible for dealing with the first German mine to wash up on Australian soil during the war, near Esperance, Western Australia.^[21]

Choules remained in the RAN after the Second World War and transferred to the Naval Dockyard Police (NDP) to allow him to remain in service until 1956, as retirement from the RAN for ratings in those days was at age 50, while personnel could serve until 55 years old in the NDP.^[22][23]

Later life

Choules and his wife Ethel were married for 80 years, until her death at age 98.^[22] Choules shunned celebrations of the Armistice, because he was against the glorification of war.^[24] His autobiography The Last of the Last was published in 2009.^[25]

In late April 2010, Choules' daughter Daphne Choules-Edinger reported that his health was declining and he could no longer give interviews. He was almost totally blind and deaf.^[26] He celebrated his 110th birthday in March 2011.^[27] In the final years of his life, he resided at Gracewood Hostel in Salter Point, a suburb of Perth.

Claude Choules appeared in the BBC documentaries The Last Tommy (2005) and Harry Patch – The Last Tommy (2009). After his eventual death, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stated "Mr Choules and his generation made a sacrifice for our freedom and liberty we will never forget".^[28]

Death and funeral

Choules died on 5 May 2011. He was survived by 3 children, 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren.^[22] He was given a naval funeral in Fremantle, Western Australia on 20 May 2011. Guests included the West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, state Opposition Leader Eric Ripper and federal Defence Minister Stephen Smith, who gave a reading during the service. Choules's son Adrian gave the eulogy.^[29]

On 13 August 2011 it was announced by the Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Ray Griggs that the former British Royal Fleet Auxiliary Largs Bay would be named HMAS Choules, following its acquisition by the Royal Australian Navy.^[30]

Awards

In 2009, Choules became the oldest recipient of the Australian Defence Medal, as he had served more than four years in the Australian Defence Force after 3 September 1945.^[31] He was also awarded the British War Medal 1914–18, the Victory Medal 1914–18, the War Medal 1939–45, the Australia Service Medal 1939–45, the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, the Centenary Medal and the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with Clasp.^[31]

	British War Medal
	Victory Medal 1914–18
	War Medal 1939–45
	Australia Service Medal 1939–45
	Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal	1953
	Centenary Medal	2001
	Australian Defence Medal	2006
	Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal	with clasp to denote 30 years service

See also

	World War I portal
	Biography portal
	United Kingdom portal
	Australia portal

• List of verified supercentenarians who died in 2011
• List of veterans of World War I who died in 2009–11
• List of Australian supercentenarians

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "1911 census". http://dreammail.edgesuite.net/FindMyPast/claude_choules_1911.JPG. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
2. ^ Last known World War I combat veteran dies
3. ^ "Claude Choules: the Last of the Last". The Daily Telegraph. 5 May 2011. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8496300/Claude-Choules-the-Last-of-the-Last.html. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
4. ^ "Claude, 108 ... last of the WW1 heroes". The Sun. UK. 28 July 2009. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2557649/Claude-Choules-108last-of-the-WW1-heroes.html. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
5. ^ Agence France-Presse (27 July 2009). "Claude Choules says WWI was 'boring'". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25841206-12377,00.html. Retrieved 2 August 2008. ""Mr Choules was informed by his 80-year-old daughter Anne Pow over the weekend that the death of 111-year-old Harry Patch, Britain's last soldier who fought in the Great War's infamous trenches, had made him the country's sole survivor."" 
6. ^ "Australia's last WWI veteran dies ABC News". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/05/3208495.htm. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
7. ^ "Oldest In Britain". Oldestinbritain.webs.com. http://oldestinbritain.webs.com/. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
8. ^ Choules 2011, p. 13.
9. ^ Choules 2011, p. 15.
10. ^ Choules 2011, p. 18-19.
11. ^ Choules 2011, p. 30-32.
12. ^ Choules 2011, p. 32.
13. ^ Choules 2011, p. 41.
14. ^ Choules 2011, p. 42-43.
15. ^ Choules 2011, p. 44.
16. ^ "Claude Choules, the last combat veteran of the First World War, dies at 110". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3565801/Claude-Choules-the-last-combat-veteran-of-the-First-World-War-dies-at-110.html. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Booth, Gary. "500 km by bike to demolish Albany". Navy News. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. http://www.webcitation.org/5VKt9rJAJ. Retrieved 6 July 2007. 
18. ^ Choules 2011, p. 115.
19. ^ Carman, Gerry (7 May 2011). "Last post for final veteran of WWI". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/last-post-for-final-veteran-of-wwi-20110506-1ebzm.html. Retrieved 11 May 2011. 
20. ^ "WWI survivor celebrates his 107th birthday". ABC Perth. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. http://www.webcitation.org/5W4qdmFYY. Retrieved 4 March 2008. 
21. ^ ^{a b c} Conway, Doug (6 May 2011). "Age no longer wearies last warrior of two world wars". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/national/age-no-longer-wearies-last-warrior-of-two-world-wars-20110505-1eaci.html. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
22. ^ ^{a b c} Batcheler, Alison (3 February 2008). "At 106, the secret to long life is: Don't die". WA News. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930024132/http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=22565. Retrieved 3 February 2008. 
23. ^ "A lesson in Longevity". The Baptist Advocate. Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. http://www.webcitation.org/5VKtFIV5e. Retrieved 3 February 2008. 
24. ^ By Europe correspondent Emma Alberici (12 November 2009). ""Merkel helps French mark Armistice Day" by Emma Alberici of ABC News on 12 November 2009, last accessed 12 November 2009". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/12/2740433.htm?section=world. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
25. ^ Linda Cann (2 March 2010). "Last WW1 veteran in Australia, Claude Choules, turns 109". Perth Now. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/last-ww1-vet-in-australia-claude-choules-turning-109/story-e6frg13u-1225836139288. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
26. ^ Tate, Lee (24 April 2010). "Final battle nears for last of Great War greats". The Age. Australia. http://www.theage.com.au/national/final-battle-nears-for-last-of-great-war-greats-20100423-tjc5.html. Retrieved 26 April 2010. 
27. ^ "110th birthday for proud veteran (From Worcester News)". Worcesternews.co.uk. 4 March 2011. http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/8890520.110th_birthday_for_proud_veteran/. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
28. ^ Perpitch, Nicolas (6 May 2011). "Veteran Claude Choules's death breaks last link to World War I". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/defence/veterans-death-breaks-last-link-to-wwi/story-e6frg8yo-1226050787293. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
29. ^ "Touch of humour at last WWI veteran's farewell". The Canberra Times. 21 May 2011. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/touch-of-humour-at-last-wwi-veterans-farewell/2170420.aspx. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 
30. ^ Naming of ex-RFA Largs Bay as HMAS Choules
31. ^ ^{a b} "Claude Choules". HMAS CANBERRA FFG-02 site. 6 May 2011. http://www.hmascanberra.com/crews/claude.html. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 

Books cited

• Choules, Claude (2011). The Last of the Last. Edinburgh and London: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 9781845967055. 

External links

• WWI veteran Claude has a 108th birthday date
• View the Royal Navy service record (1916–1926) of Claude Choules
• Video of Claude Choules
• autobiography of Claude Choules, "The Last of the Last" by Hesperian Press
• Last male WWI veteran dies

Persondata
Name	Choules, Claude
Alternative names
Short description	last living First World War combat veteran in the world
Date of birth	1901-03-03
Place of birth	Wyre Piddle, Pershore, Worcestershire, England
Date of death	2011-05-05
Place of death	Perth, Western Australia