The Last Tommy
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The Last Tommy
As the original thread has been closed here is a new one.
Frances oldest WW1 veteran has died recently, leaving only one left.
BBC
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
RIP both of them.
Frances oldest WW1 veteran has died recently, leaving only one left.
BBC
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
RIP both of them.
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.
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.
Last edited by galaxy flyer; 12th Mar 2008 at 21:12.
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Surviving veterans - according to Wikipedia
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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.
It would be an honour to meet them.
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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...
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...
Thread Starter
What is your definition of the last Tommy? I
However, some seeit as the last serving soldier/sailor/airman of WW1, and some as the last soldier who served in the trenches.
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WW1 discharge papers
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! 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...
RRAAMJET: Well done, that man!
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...
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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.
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.
