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List of last surviving World War I veterans by country

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This is a list of the last surviving World War I veterans, listed by country. The last living veteran of World War I (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918) was Florence Green, a British citizen who served in the Allied armed forces, and who died 4 February 2012, aged 110.[1] The last combat veteran was Claude Choules who served in the British Royal Navy (and later the Royal Australian Navy) and died 5 May 2011, aged 110.[2] The last veteran who served in the trenches was Harry Patch who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111. The last Central Powers veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died on 27 May 2008 at the age of 107.

The total number of participating personnel is estimated by the Encyclopædia Britannica at 65,038,810. There were approximately 9,750,103 military deaths during the conflict.

Veterans, for this purpose, are defined as people who were members of the armed forces of one of the combatant nations up to and including the date of the Armistice. This policy may vary from the policy in actual use in some countries.

The last surviving verified veteran of World War I per country is shown in the table below.

Country Name Death date Age
Flag of Austria-Hungary 1869-1918 Austrian Empire[3] August Bischof[4] March 4, 2006 105 years
Flag of Australia Australia[5] John Campbell Ross[6] June 3, 2009 110 years
Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium Cyrillus-Camillus Barbary[7] September 16, 2004 105 years
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil Waldemar Levy Cardoso May 13, 2009 108 years
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria
Canadian Red Ensign 1868-1921 Canada John Babcock[8] February 18, 2010 109 years
Flag of the Republic of China 1912-1928 Republic of China (1912–1949)
Flag of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakian Legions[9] Alois Vocásek[10] August 9, 2003 107 years
Flag of France France Pierre Picault[11][12] November 20, 2008 109 years
Flag of the German Empire German Empire Erich Kästner[13] January 1, 2008 107 years
State flag of Greece (1863–1924;1935–73) Greece
Flag of Hungary (1920–1946) Hungarian Kingdom[3] Franz Künstler[14] May 27, 2008 107 years
British Raj Red Ensign Indian Empire[5] Robert Francis Ruttledge[15] January 12, 2002 103 years
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned Italy Delfino Borroni[16] October 26, 2008 110 years
Flag of Japan Japan Matsuda Chiaki November 6, 1995  99 years
Flag of the Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegro Danilo Dajković[17] September 14, 1993  98 years
Dominion of Newfoundland Red Ensign Newfoundland[5] Wallace Pike[18] April 11, 1999  99 years
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand[5] Bright Williams[19] February 13, 2003 105 years
Ottoman Flag Ottoman Empire Yakup Satar[20] April 2, 2008 110 years
Flag of Poland Polish forces[9] Stanisław Wycech[21] January 12, 2008 105 years
Flag of Portugal Portugal José Ladeira[22] May 5, 2003 107 years
Flag of Romania Romania Gheorghe Pănculescu[23] January 9, 2007 103 years
Flag of Russia Russian Empire Mikhail Krichevsky[24][25] December 26, 2008 111 years
Flag of Serbia Serbia Aleksa Radovanović[26] June 22, 2004 105 years
Flag of Thailand Siam Yod Sangrungruang[27] October 9, 2003 106 years
South Africa Flag 1912-1928 South Africa[5] Norman Kark[28][29] March 2000 102 years
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Florence Green[30] February 4, 2012 110 years
US flag 48 stars United States Frank Buckles[31] February 27, 2011 110 years
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Claude Choules[32] May 4, 2011 110 years

References[]

  1. ↑ Blackmore, David (7 February 2012). "Norfolk First World War Veteran Dies". EDP24. http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk_first_world_war_veteran_dies_aged_110_1_1201358. Retrieved 7 February 2012. 
  2. ↑ Carman, Gerry (6 May 2011). "Last man who served in two world wars dies, 110". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/national/last-man-who-served-in-two-world-wars-dies-110-20110505-1ea59.html. Retrieved 6 May 2011. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Austria and Hungary were component, technically sovereign, nations within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
  4. ↑ "Autriche" (in French). Ders Des Ders. http://dersdesders.free.fr/autriche.html. Retrieved 2010-11-20. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 A self-governing Dominion under the British Empire.
  6. ↑ "Australia's oldest man and Digger Jack Ross dies aged 110". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/national/last-remaining-digger-australias-oldest-man-jack-ross-dies-aged-110-20090603-buy4.html. Retrieved 2011-02-15. 
  7. ↑ "Belgique" (in French). Ders Des Ders. http://dersdesders.free.fr/belgique.html. Retrieved 2010-11-20. 
  8. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (2010-02-24). "..John Babcock, Last Canadian World War I Veteran, Dies at 109". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/world/americas/24babcock.html. Retrieved 2010-11-20. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Accorded belligerent status at Versailles.
  10. ↑ "REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE" (in French). Ders Des Ders. http://dersdesders.free.fr/tcheque.html. Retrieved 2010-11-20. 
  11. ↑ "france" (in French). Ders Des Ders. http://dersdesders.free.fr/france.html. Retrieved 2010-11-20. 
  12. ↑ The French government, under whose legal definition of a WWI veteran as having served six months during the war years Picault did not qualify, officially recognized Lazare Ponticelli, who died March 12, 2008, as the last poilu.
  13. ↑ "Germany's 'last' WWI veteran dies". BBC. 2008-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7210346.stm. Retrieved 2010-11-20. 
  14. ↑ "Franz Künstler, Veteran of 2 Wars, Dies at 107". The New York Times. 2008-05-30. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/world/europe/30kunstler.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  15. ↑ "Outstanding ornithologist and a founder of Irish Wildbird Conservancy". 2002-01-19. 
  16. ↑ "Delfino Borroni: Italy’s last surviving veteran of the First World War". The Times. 2008-10-30. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24557283-12377,00.html. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  17. ↑ "Петнаестогодишњица упокојења Митрополита црногорско-приморског Г. Данила (1895-1993)" (in Serbian). Serbian Orthodox Church. 2008-09-12. http://www.spc.rs/eng/petnaestogodisnjica_upokojenja_mitropolita_crnogorskoprimorskog_g_danila_18951993. Retrieved 2013-07-06. 
  18. ↑ "Last of Newfoundland's WW1 vets passes away". CBC. 1999-04-19. http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/1999/04/19/nf_pike990419.html. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 
  19. ↑ "The last Great War veterans". RNZRSA. 2003-02. http://www.rsa.org.nz/about/nws2003feb/media_release.html. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 
  20. ↑ "Yakup Satar". The Times. 2008-04-03. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3676439.ece. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  21. ↑ "Poland’s WWI veteran Stanislaw passes away". Oman Tribune. http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=19774&heading=Europe. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 
  22. ↑ Silva, Carlos (2005-09-07). "1643 portugueses mortos na grande guerra em França" (in Portuguese). Fórum de Genealogia. http://www.geneall.net/P/forum_msg.php?id=221424&fview=e. Retrieved 2010-11-21. "Filipe Prista Lucas, a GRG correspondent says quote (translated from Portuguese) "According to the information I hold, the last Portuguese veteran of World War I he died in 2003. His name was Jose Luis Ladeira, and died on May 5, 2003, in Goshen Valley, Miranda do Corvo, 107 years old."" 
  23. ↑ "ROUMANIE" (in French). Ders Des Ders. http://dersdesders.free.fr/roumanie.html. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  24. ↑ "Последний в мире ветеран Первой мировой живет в Донецке (фото)" (in Russian). Интернет-газета Донбасса. 2008-02-22. http://novosti.dn.ua/details/58826/. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  25. ↑ "Oldest known Ukrainian Jew dies at 111". JTA. 2009-01-05. http://jta.org/news/article/2009/01/05/1002004/oldest-known-ukrainian-jew-dies-at-111. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 
  26. ↑ Racić, M. (2004-06-26/27). "ODLAZAK POSLEDNJEG SRPSKOG SOLUNCA" (in Serbian). Kurir. http://arhiva.kurir-info.rs/Arhiva/2004/jun/26-27/V-09-26062004.shtml. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  27. ↑ "Last WW1 veteran dies". Taipei Times. 2003-10-11. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/10/11/2003071220. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 
  28. ↑ Printing World (2000-04-17). "Longest serving Stationer dies at the wonderful age of 102". Highbeam Business. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20090204125133/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-27692861_ITM. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 
  29. ↑ Ashley, Mike (2010-11-11). "Collecting Crime: London Mystery Magazine - Part Two". Crime Time. http://www.crimetime.co.uk/community/mag.php/showcomments/587. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  30. ↑ "Last surviving veteran of First World War dies aged 110". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9066371/Last-surviving-veteran-of-First-World-War-dies-aged-110.html. Retrieved 2012-02-07. 
  31. ↑ Courson, Paul (2011-02-28). "Last living U.S. World War I veteran dies". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/27/wwi.veteran.death/. Retrieved 2011-02-28. 
  32. ↑ "Last WWI combat veteran Claude Choules dies aged 110". BBC. 2011-05-04. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10205174. Retrieved 2011-05-04. 

See also[]

Lists of known World War I veterans' deaths by year
Numbers in brackets indicate the number of veterans known to have died that year


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