The Last Tommy

[MightyGem]

As the original thread has been closed here is a new one.

Frances oldest WW1 veteran has died recently, leaving only one left.
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7199127.stm)

Also Germany's last remaining vetran died on New Years Day. A shame that the country still feels that the subject is still taboo.
Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=509925&in_page_id=1811)

RIP both of them.

[MightyGem]

Now France's last surviving WW1 veteran has died:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7292109.stm

RIP M'sieu.

[wetdreamdriver]

The mighty Gem
What is your definition of the last Tommy? I know Harry Patch is still with us but so I believe Henry Alltingham?

[Greenleader]

How is our very own Henry Allingham doing? 111 years old at last count! A true survivor, and a gentleman I am proud to have met.

[galaxy flyer]

America's last in Frank Buckle, I believe. There was a recent article on him, upon the death of the oldest veteran of WWI.

Gf

Correction: Frank Buckles, served in France and Germany during WWI and was a POW, held by the Japanese for 3 years, during WW II; captured as a civilian employee of a shipping company.

Wikipedia has a nice accounting of all the WW I vets.

[November4]

Surviving veterans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_Veterans_of_the_First_World_War#Australia)- according to Wikipedia

[Guzlin Adnams]

I find it difficult to take on board that old soldiers are from the same generation as my two grandfathers. I know that one of them served in the Cambridgeshire Regiment during WW1 and was awarded the Military Medal at Ypres....excuse spelling please. He died back in 1974 aged 77.
It would be an honour to meet them.

[RRAAMJET]

I arranged a van-ride to Ypres on a recent layover in Brussels, taking most of my American Airlines crew with me; I had printed out a short briefing sheet for all of them to read in the van on the 1.5 hr drive, so they knew what they would be looking at. They were absolutely fascinated, as WW1 is not taught in any depth over in the US. Walking the trenches at Sanctuary Wood, Hill 60 and visiting the In Flanders Fields Museum is a must for all interested in those long-ago days.

Some of our flight attendants were absolutely gobsmacked when I mentioned Harry Patch being still around - a living connection to the horrors and heroism of Paschendael.

May I recommend: 'A Storm in Flanders' by Winston Groom

and: http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/messines.html

if those authors don't mind the plug...:ok:

[MightyGem]

What is your definition of the last Tommy? I
That's not my definition, but the title of the original thread that was started about 3 years ago, I think, but has since disappeared.

However, some seeit as the last serving soldier/sailor/airman of WW1, and some as the last soldier who served in the trenches.

[exscribbler]

Guzlin A: You can get your grandfathers' discharge papers from t'internet, via Ancestry. PM me if you need any help.

RRAAMJET: Well done, that man!:ok: I understand there's a US cemetery in Ploisy, near Soissons, so the next layover at CDG should be near enough...

My grandfather joined 1NF in 1900 for 7+7 and was recalled in September 1914 at the age of 32. He managed to get through almost unscathed but I've no details of his service as, like so many, he would never speak about it. My parents accompanied him on a visit to Flanders in August 1939; he was a very self-controlled man but my mother said he cried like a baby at the Menin Gate...

[Forkandles]

exscribbler - please check PMs.

[November4]

Am happy to do any searches for service records or Medal Index Cards on Ancestry from the First War....send me the details via PM

[GreenKnight121]

My Grandfather (mother's side)... Jesse Burch.

One of Pershing's boys, 1917-1918.

Caught a dose of gas in late 1918, which didn't really bother him in later years... he died in summer 1980.

We still have his unit book from France, and his letters home.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b336/Bager1968/other%20stuff/family-me/jeb_mil.jpg