De Brit Claude Choules is woensdag op 110-jarige leeftijd overleden in Perth in Australië. Choules was zover bekend de laatst nog levende militair die had gevochten in de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Australische media hebben de dood van de veteraan donderdag gemeld.
Choules werd vorig jaar na de dood van de Amerikaanse veteraan Frank Buckles de laatste overlevende van de 70 miljoen militairen die wereldwijd werden ingezet tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog. De enige andere overlevende van de Eerste Wereldoorlog is vermoedelijk de 110-jarige Britse Florence Green. Zij diende bij de luchtmacht, maar werkte als serveerster en had dus geen gevechtsfunctie.
Choules begon op zijn veertiende als militair. Hij loog over zijn geboortejaar om in dienst te kunnen, waarna hij in Europa en later in Australië werd gestationeerd. Hij bleef 41 jaar bij de marine. De oorlogsjaren waren volgens hem zwaar, maar soms ook saai. Hij waarschuwde ervoor de ervaringen uit de oorlog niet te verheerlijken.
Laatste strijder Eerste Wereldoorlog dood
http://forumeerstewereldo(...)p?t=25123&highlight=
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[ Bericht 29% gewijzigd door Cobra4 op 05-05-2011 15:40:30 ]
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Op 
en 110 worden is niet slecht, hopelijk heeft hij wel tot het einde een redelijk gezondheid gehad.Sailor who was the last surviving combatant of the first world war
Claude Choules, who has died aged 110, was the last known combat veteran of the first world war, during which he served in the Royal Navy. He witnessed two historic events at the end of the conflict. He was present at the surrender of the imperial German navy at the Firth of Forth, off Scotland's east coast, on 21 November 1918, 10 days after the armistice, and at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, on 21 June 1919, when the German Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered his interned fleet to be scuttled. Preventive action limited the scuttling to 52 of the 74 ships. These included 10 battleships, five battlecruisers, five cruisers and 32 destroyers.
Choules migrated to Australia in 1926 and, during the second world war, he served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a senior demolition expert in Western Australia. Early in the war, he identified and disposed of the first German mine to wash up on Australian shores, near Esperance. With Japan on the rampage in 1942, he set explosives to blow up oil tanks and placed depth charges in ships unable to leave Fremantle harbour in anticipation of a Japanese landing. Had the Japanese invaded, he would have had the improbable task of riding a bicycle about 500km south to Albany to blow up harbour facilities there, too.
Choules, who held dual British and Australian nationality, was born at Wyre Piddle, Pershore, in Worcestershire. His father, Henry, was a haberdasher, and his mother, Madelin, became an actor. His mother abandoned the family when he was young – for many years, he thought she had died – and his older brothers, Douglas and Leslie, were sent to different family homes while his father raised Claude and his sisters, Phyllis and Gwen. This would later shape his make-up as a considerate, conscientious and attentive father, polite to all.
Choules dropped out of school at 14 and fibbed about his age to join the navy in 1915. The previous year he had tried to join the army as a bugle boy after learning that his brothers were serving in the British army. Both had fought at Gallipoli before going on to the western front in France, where Douglas was gassed and died a year later, and Leslie won the military medal.
After training on HMS Impregnable, at one time a 140-gun, square-rigged wooden battleship, Choules (who acquired the nickname Chuckles) served on HMS Revenge, the flagship of the Royal Navy's first battle squadron. Between 1920 and 1923, he served in the Mediterranean in the battleship HMS Valiant, and for a time was involved in the construction of the navy's first purpose-built aircraft carrier, HMS Eagle. He then served for two years as a petty officer on board the Eagle in the Mediterranean before being seconded with 11 other naval personnel to go to Australia in 1926 on loan to the RAN as an instructor at the Flinders naval depot, near Melbourne.
Both of his brothers had already relocated to Australia before the war, so he asked for a permanent transfer to the RAN. He returned to Britain to train as a torpedo and anti-submarine instructor, and was also involved in the construction of the RAN's heavy cruisers Australia and Canberra. He was part of the commissioning crew of HMAS Canberra.
Choules took his discharge from the RAN in 1931, but remained in the reserve. He rejoined the RAN the following year with the rank of chief petty officer. He remained with the service after the second world war, transferring to the naval dockyard police, enabling him to remain until 1956, five years longer than the regulations allowed for RAN ratings, who in those days had to retire at 50.
But he was still not done with the sea. He bought a crayfishing boat and spent the next 10 years fishing off the Western Australia coast with his wife. He also shot rabbits and culled kangaroos – until he saw the film Bambi. An excellent ballroom dancer, Choules had special shoes made for his whirls across the dance floor as he did the foxtrot, which he taught to his daughters and grandchildren. He also loved to play the mouth organ. Not surprisingly, his favourites were sea shanties.
As a centenarian, he retained a sense of humour, insisting that a laugh was good for the soul. Towards the end of his life, a degenerative eye disorder took its toll. His daughter Anne attributed his long life to his fitness, healthy lifestyle and a happy, contented disposition.
Choules never owned a car until he was 50, and rode a bicycle everywhere. His wife of 80 years, Ethel, a children's nurse, died in 2006, aged 98, and he spent his last years at the Gracewood hostel at Salter Point in Perth. He published his autobiography, The Last of the Last, in 2009.
Choules is survived by his daughters, Daphne and Anne, his son, Adrian, 13 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
Bron: http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)ude-choules-obituary
quote:Op donderdag 5 mei 2011 15:28 schreef tong80 het volgende:
In een verzorgingshuis in Australië is de laatste veteraan van de Eerste Wereldoorlog overleden. De Brit Claude Stanley Choules was 14 toen hij in 1915 bij de Britse marine ging.
Choules had gelogen over zijn leeftijd. Eigenlijk was hij nog te jong om in dienst te mogen.
Na de oorlog emigreerde hij naar Perth in Australië, waar hij ook bij de marine werkte toen de Tweede Wereldoorlog uitbrak.
'Gewoon ademhalen'
Choules bleef 41 jaar bij de marine. De oorlogsjaren waren volgens hem zwaar, maar soms ook saai. Nadat hij met pensioen was gegaan, wilde hij niets meer met het leger te maken hebben. Hoe ouder hij werd, hoe meer hij tegen de oorlog was. "Oorlog is verspilling van tijd, verspilling van energie", zei hij.
De oorlogsveteraan leefde een actief leven. Op zijn 80ste begon hij met een cursus creatief schrijven. Op zijn 100ste zwom en wandelde hij nog iedere dag. Hij ging pas op zijn 105de naar een bejaardentehuis.
Op de vraag hoe hij het zo lang volhield, antwoordde hij: "Gewoon blijven ademhalen".
Florence Green
Na de dood vorig jaar van de Amerikaanse veteraan Frank Buckles, werd Choules de laatste overlevende van de 70 miljoen militairen die wereldwijd zijn ingezet tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog.
In Engeland woont nog een 110-jarige vrouw die is erkend als veteraan maar geen gevechtsfunctie had. Florence Green werkte tijdens WO I op een Britse luchtmachtbasis, waar ze maaltijden serveerde aan officieren.
Een held
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Ik ga toch maar eens op zoek naar dat boek van hem.
Besteld.
Dat.quote:
Held
21 December 2011
The Royal Australian Navy’s newest ship HMAS Choules has arrived at its homeport at Fleet Base East in Sydney after being formally commissioned into service in Fremantle on 13 December 2011.
Commander of Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Steve Gilmore AM, CSC, RAN welcomed the ship and her crew of 158 and said she would make an exciting addition to the Navy.
“It was terrific to see her sail through Sydney Harbour flying the White Ensign for the first time,” Rear Admiral Gilmore said.
HMAS Choules has been named after the longest surviving World War One veteran, Claude Choules who passed away in April this year at age 110.
“The crew has already given the ship a strong sense of character through the hard work that has been undertaken in the lead up to HMAS Choules’ commissioning,” Rear Admiral Gilmore said.
The acquisition of this ship will help ensure that the Royal Australian Navy has the amphibious capability it needs for operations and humanitarian support in our region in the period leading up to the arrival of the Royal Australian Navy’s Landing Helicopter Dock ships in 2014 and 2015.
With a cargo capacity the equivalent of HMA Ships Manoora, Kanimbla and Tobruk combined, HMAS Choules is a proven capability having provided humanitarian relief when she was under Royal Navy command as RFA Largs Bay, assisting as part of the international response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
The 176 metre long vessel has a crew of 158 Officers and sailors, and can accommodate two large helicopters such as Sea Hawks and Black Hawks, 150 light trucks and 350 troops. HMAS Choules also carries two mexeflotes, which are landing raft, designed to move goods and vehicles between the ship and the shore.
The Royal Australian Navy now has the following amphibious capability if required to provide humanitarian and disaster relief during the current cyclone season:
◦ HMAS Choules;
◦ HMAS Tobruk;
◦ Windermere – leased from P&O until 31 January 2012, with the option to extend to the end of February 2012;
◦ HMNZS Canterbury – under Australia’s agreement with New Zealand it would be made available as part of the joint Pacific-focused Ready Response Force, subject to any operational requirements in New Zealand.
Bron: http://www.navy.gov.au/Na(...)ith_new_ship_arrival