Military Wiki
George Frederick Ives
Born (1881-11-17)November 17, 1881
Died April 12, 1993(1993-04-12) (aged 111)
(aged 7002111000000000000111 years, 7002146000000000000146 days)
Place of birth Brighton, England
Place of death British Columbia, Canada
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1899–1902
Unit Imperial Yeomanry

George Frederick Ives (17 November 1881 – 12 April 1993) was the last surviving veteran of the Boer Wars. George Ives became known in the UK after a piece in the Peterborough Column in the Daily Telegraph. His record as oldest British veteran, at 111 years and 146 days, of any war was broken on 1 November 2007 by First World War veteran Henry Allingham.

Biography[]

Ives was born at Brighton, England.[1] The family worked for the Tidmarsh family. He worked in his father's work shop in Bristol until 1899.[2] That December, Ives was eager to enlist after hearing that the British had been defeated at Colenso, Magersfontein.[2]

In the Boer War, George fought with the Imperial Yeomanry, along with 122 other veterans, of the British Army in South Africa.[2]

Ives emigrated to Canada in 1903 with his father and purchased 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land for ten dollars.[3] He was rejected from service in World War I because of a heart murmur.[3]

In 1910, he married Kay Nelson.[3] The couple had three sons and three daughters.[3] Nelson disliked hard-life of the prairies, so the family moved in 1919 to White Rock, British Columbia.[3] Ives owned a farm there and eventually retired from it in 1941.[3] He looked and found another job because he said that his retirement was an excuse to change jobs. So until 1956, 15 years later, he worked in a shipyard building wooden scows, and confirmed his retirement.[3]

The couple had resided in that same house until 1984, until moving into a retirement home.[4] He attended the Albert Hall service on Remembrance day 1992 in England and met Queen Elizabeth and her mother; Baroness Margaret Thatcher, and Prime Minister John Major.[4] Ives died on 12 April 1993 at aged 111 years, 146 days in Canada.[4]

Notes[]

  1. http://oldestinbritain.webs.com/oldestbritons.htm
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Davies (1996), p.1
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Davies (1996), p.2
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Davies (1996), p.3

Sources[]

  • Davies, David T. (1996). Canada From Afar. Dundurn Press. ISBN 1-55002-252-0. 

External links[]

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