Gladys Powers

Infobox Military Person
name= Gladys Powers
born=May 10, 1899
died=August 15, 2008


caption=
nickname=
placeofbirth= Lewisham, United Kingdom
placeofdeath= Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
allegiance= United Kingdom
branch= Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
Women's Royal Air Force
serviceyears= 1915 - 1920
rank=
unit=
commands=
battles= World War I
awards=
relations=
laterwork=

Gladys Stokes Luxford Powers (May 10, 1899 – August 15, 2008 [ [http://finance.boston.com/boston?GUID=6372638&Page=MediaViewer&ChannelID=3198 The Boston Globe: Canada Mourns the Passing of World War I Veteran Gladys Powers] ] [ [http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=52fb74fc-1beb-44b4-bb39-bb7c1d0df622 Gladys Powers' obituary at Canada.com] ] ) was, at age 109, the last female veteran of the First World War following the March 27, 2007 death of fellow 109-year-old Charlotte Winters from the US. She was also the last veteran living in Canada following the death of Dwight Wilson on May 9, 2007, the day before Powers' 108th birthday. The last Canadian-born veteran, 108-year-old John Babcock, lives in the US.

Powers was born in Lewisham, County of London, the daughter of Frederick Charles Stokes. During her childhood she lived in both Turkey and Australia. In 1915, she volunteered as a barracks waitress for the WAAC despite the minimum age being 17. Later she transferred to the WRAF. In 1920, she married Edward Luxford, a Canadian soldier, whom she had met while visiting her older brother, Cyril, in hospital, where the latter was recovering from shell shock incurred during the war.

The Luxfords moved to Calgary that year, and walked almost 1000 kilometres along the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks to British Columbia in 1925. They later divorced and Powers remarried and was widowed twice, before meeting and marrying Andrew Powers in 1973, whom she also outlived. She lived in Abbotsford from 1992 until her death in 2008. [ [http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=ef802371-2f51-456a-8e9f-3cba36b34e62 3 centuries, 4 husbands, 109 years] ]

ee also

* Veterans of World War I who died in 2008

References

Persondata
NAME= Powers, Gladys
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=
DATE OF BIRTH=May 10, 1899 - August 22, 2008 (aged 109)
PLACE OF BIRTH= Lewisham, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH=2008
PLACE OF DEATH= Abbotsford, British Columbia