List of last surviving World War I veterans Facts for Kids

This article is about the last people who served in the First World War (which happened from July 28, 1914, to November 11, 1918). It lists those who were still alive in 1999 or later. A "veteran" is someone who was part of the armed forces of the countries fighting in the war.

Florence Green, from Britain, was a member of the Royal Air Force's WRAF. She is usually seen as the very last confirmed veteran of the war. She passed away on February 4, 2012, at 110 years old. The last veteran who actually fought in battles was Claude Choules. He served in the British Royal Navy and later the Royal Australian Navy. He died on May 5, 2011, also at 110.

The last veteran who served in the trenches (long ditches where soldiers fought) was Harry Patch from the British Army. He died on July 25, 2009, at 111. The last veteran from the Central Powers (one of the main groups fighting in the war), Franz Künstler from Austria-Hungary, died on May 27, 2008, at 107.

About 65 million people took part in the war. Sadly, around 9.75 million soldiers died during the conflict.

Last Veterans from Each Country
Veterans Who Lived to 2009 or Later
Likely Confirmed Veterans
Unconfirmed World War I Veterans
Veterans from the World War I Era
Total Veterans Who Lived to 2009 or Later
See also

Last Veterans from Each Country

This list shows the last known veterans from different countries that were part of World War I.

Country	Veteran	Death date	Age
Armenia	Senekerim Arakelian	9 September 2000	98 years
Australia	John Campbell Ross	3 June 2009	110 years
Austrian Empire	August Bischof	4 March 2006	105 years
Belgium	Cyriel Barbary	16 September 2004	105 years
Brazil	Waldemar Levy Cardoso	13 May 2009	108 years
Canada	John Babcock	18 February 2010	109 years
China	Zhu Guisheng	5 March 2002	106 years
Czechoslovakian Legions	Alois Vocásek	9 August 2003	107 years
Denmark	Lorenz Gram	26 December 2004	105 years
France	Pierre Picault	20 November 2008	109 years
German Empire	Erich Kästner	1 January 2008	107 years
Kingdom of Hungary	Franz Künstler	27 May 2008	107 years
India	Robert Francis Ruttledge	12 January 2002	102 years
Italy	Delfino Borroni	26 October 2008	110 years
Japan	Yasuichi Sasaki	26 July 2006	108 years
Montenegro	Danilo Dajković	14 September 1993	98 years
New Zealand	Bright Williams	13 February 2003	106 years
Newfoundland	Wallace Pike	11 April 1999	99 years
Ottoman Empire	Yakup Satar	2 April 2008	110 years
Poland	Stanisław Wycech	12 January 2008	105 years
Romania	Gheorghe Pănculescu	9 January 2007	103 years
Russian Empire	Mikhail Krichevsky	26 December 2008	111 years
Serbia	Aleksa Radovanović	22 June 2004	103 years
Siam	Yod Sangrungruang	9 October 2003	106 years
South Africa	Norman Kark	30 March 2000	102 years
United Kingdom	Florence Green	4 February 2012	110 years
United States	Frank Buckles	27 February 2011	110 years

The last veteran from Colony of Jamaica was Stanley Stair (died 2008). From British Guyana, it was Gershom Browne (died 2000). Thomas Shaw (died 2002) was the last veteran from Ireland. Alfred Anderson (died 2005) was the last from Scotland.

Veterans Who Lived to 2009 or Later

Here are nine veterans who were still alive in 2009 or later.

Country Served	Name	Born	Died	Notes
Australia	John Campbell Ross	11 March 1899	3 June 2009 (110)	Last Australian soldier. He joined in 1918 as a radio operator but did not fight.
Canada	John Babcock	23 July 1900	18 February 2010 (109)	Last Canadian veteran. He joined in 1916 but was too young to fight in battles.
United Kingdom	Henry Allingham	6 June 1896	18 July 2009 (113)	Last airman. He joined in 1915 as a mechanic. He was the world's oldest man and Britain's oldest man ever.
United Kingdom	Claude Choules	3 March 1901	5 May 2011 (110)	Last person who fought in World War I. He was also the last male veteran. He joined in 1916.
United Kingdom	Florence Green	19 February 1901	4 February 2012 (110)	Last female veteran and the last officially recognized veteran. She worked as a waitress in the Women's Royal Air Force.
United Kingdom	Netherwood Hughes	12 June 1900	4 April 2009 (108)	He was called up in 1918 as a truck driver but did not fight.
United Kingdom	Harry Patch	17 June 1898	25 July 2009 (111)	Last British soldier ("Tommy"). He served in the British Army. He was the last veteran to fight in the trenches and be injured.
United Kingdom	Bill Stone	23 September 1900	10 January 2009 (108)	He joined the Royal Navy in 1918 but did not fight in battles. He also served in World War II.
United States	Frank Buckles	1 February 1901	27 February 2011 (110)	Last American veteran. He joined in 1917 and drove ambulances near the Western Front.

Likely Confirmed Veterans

This is one veteran whose service is very likely confirmed.

Country Served	Name	Born	Died	Notes
Japan	Jiroemon Kimura	19 April 1897	12 June 2013 (116)	Possibly the last confirmed veteran from any country. He served in the army from April to June 1918 but did not fight. He was the oldest verified man in history when he died.

Unconfirmed World War I Veterans

These people claimed to be veterans, but their service could not be fully confirmed.

Country Served	Name	Born	Died	Notes
Italy	Sante Dal Santo	8 September 1902	26 February 2009 (106)	Claimed to have joined at 14 in 1916, digging trenches.
Italy	Carlo Dozzi	25 January 1901	30 May 2009 (108)	Claimed to have joined at 16 in 1917, digging trenches.
United Kingdom	Harry Futcher	21 April 1904	27 May 2010 (106)	Claimed to have joined at 14 in 1918 as a bandsman in Egypt.
United Kingdom	Douglas Edward "Doug" Terrey	23 June 1903	26 June 2010 (107)	Claimed to have joined in 1917 as a bicycle messenger.

Veterans from the World War I Era

These veterans joined the armed forces after the main fighting ended (after the Armistice) but before the peace treaty was signed. Some also served in related conflicts.

Country Served	Name	Born	Died	Notes
Brazil	Waldemar Levy Cardoso	4 December 1900	13 May 2009 (108)	Last Brazilian veteran of the WWI era. He joined in late 1918 but did not fight.
Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic	Aarne Arvonen	4 August 1897	1 January 2009 (111)	Last "Red Guard" veteran from the Finnish Civil War. He was Finland's oldest man ever.
Kingdom of Finland	Lauri Nurminen	9 September 1906	20 February 2009 (102)	Last "White Guard" veteran from the Finnish Civil War.
France	Félix Maximilian Rostaing	27 December 1900	31 December 2009 (109)	French WWI-era veteran, served in the Franco-Turkish War.
German Empire	Helmut Fink	18 March 1901	27 April 2009 (108)	Last veteran from the German Revolution and last German WWI-era veteran.
Poland	Józef Kowalski	2 February 1900	7 December 2013 (113)	Last WWI-era veteran, fought in the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921).
Poland	Wilhelm Meisel	7 January 1904	3 June 2009 (105)	Last veteran of the Silesian Uprisings. He joined the Polish Army at 15.
United States	Robley Rex	2 May 1901	28 April 2009 (107)	Last American WWI-era veteran. He joined the army in May 1919.

Total Veterans Who Lived to 2009 or Later

Confirmed veterans: 9
Unconfirmed veterans: 4
World War I-era veterans: 8

List of last surviving World War I veterans facts for kids

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