Claude Stanley Choules, the last known combat veteran of the First World War, died Thursday at a nursing home in the Western Australia city of Perth, his family said. He was 110.
I saw some interviews with him, and it was nice to hear that looking back on his life, he considered it wonderful and wouldn't change a thing given the chance to do it all over.
That's a good representative for the last survivor of the Great War.
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It is an amazing story all the "child" soldiers of that war. So many 14-18 year old Canadians made thier way to the battlefields of Belgium and France.
When deaths of 14 year old soldiers became a fear of the government they were rounded up and sent to England.
Then the story got real interesting; drunken brawls, rioting and deaths.
The last veteran of the great hate passes away. I'm sure that there was disappointment among the survivors that it was not the war to end all war. But it was the last war where the action itself was deemed to be a glorious and necessary adventure and it would be over by Christmas.
Started by the assassination of a relative no one, it was propelled forward by secret alliances and agreements, and the out dated concept of global colonization.
For the average soldier it was not the glorious thing that they thought it was. There was little movement on the fronts, they were forced to live in muddy disgusting trenches, charge into the ravenous jaws of machine guns and bayonets, or be poisoned in their own trenches. It was a minor war made major by the stupidity of monarchs and leaders.
Out of that war came the next generation engines of death, tanks, aviation, naval aviation, advanced artillery. We also saw the end of the ruling family in Russia and the rise of communism, we saw the start of the slow death of colonization, and put into effects the seeds of the second great hate.
Its astounding that this man lived to see the turn of the next century, and the world is worse off then the one he was born into.
RIP
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Seriously? The world is much better off than the one he was born into.
Yeah, I can't stand the nostalgia and overly-romanticized "good old days" crap. The world is better in most every conceivable way than it was 90 years ago. The "good old days" is one of the more perverted myths in the modern world.
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You really have to feel for the men who had to endure the horrors of that war. I have been fortunate enough to tour some of the battle fields in Belgium and France. When you see the thousands of shell craters on Vimy Ridge your jaw just drops. The cold damp weather, the Flanders mud, the lice, the rats, the constant shelling, being surrounded by death and destruction. I could not imagine the misery it must have caused.
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You really have to feel for the men who had to endure the horrors of that war. I have been fortunate enough to tour some of the battle fields in Belgium and France. When you see the thousands of shell craters on Vimy Ridge your jaw just drops. The cold damp weather, the Flanders mud, the lice, the rats, the constant shelling, being surrounded by death and destruction. I could not imagine the misery it must have caused.
I have also been to some and will return to Belgium / France in a few weeks. Pretty sure I have things well in hand, but some suggestions would be welcomed.
You really have to feel for the men who had to endure the horrors of that war. I have been fortunate enough to tour some of the battle fields in Belgium and France. When you see the thousands of shell craters on Vimy Ridge your jaw just drops. The cold damp weather, the Flanders mud, the lice, the rats, the constant shelling, being surrounded by death and destruction. I could not imagine the misery it must have caused.
In the early 90's my high school organized a European trip. There were about 20 of us who went, and one of the stops was Vimy Ridge in France. When the caretakers saw our Canadian flags they invited us to tour the tunnels dug 80 years before by the Canadian soldiers. As we entered a couple of other tourists attempted to come in with us. They were stopped and told it was only for Canadian children and their chaperones.
The most poignant reminder I have of that day is the messages to family and friends the Canadians carved into the chalky walls in one of the larger caves. It was clear they were young, had plenty of bravado, but recognized they were far from home.
In any event - if you every have the chance to visit Vimy, be sure to do so.
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I just meant it will be weird one day knowing that there is nobody left from WWII. It was such a large event and had a huge impact on all of our lives and we weren't even born then. It wil be odd when there's no one left to tell the stories from those days. It will be a sad time.
Yeah, I can't stand the nostalgia and overly-romanticized "good old days" crap. The world is better in most every conceivable way than it was 90 years ago. The "good old days" is one of the more perverted myths in the modern world.
In terms of technology sure I'd agree, but when I stated that the world wasn't any better, remember at the end of World War 1 it was labeled the war to end all war.
Man has become far more violent and ugly between the end of WW1 and his death.
We also have the capability to kill in greater numbers in a hurry.
Maybe I mispoke a bit, but the honest hope of all warriors is that one day we can all beat our swords into ploughs, that never happened. For all of the violence of WW1, it paled in comparison to WW2, after that it was war after war after war each with a greater capability of violence.
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In terms of technology sure I'd agree, but when I stated that the world wasn't any better, remember at the end of World War 1 it was labeled the war to end all war.
Man has become far more violent and ugly between the end of WW1 and his death.
We also have the capability to kill in greater numbers in a hurry.
I still disagree with mostly everything except your last sentence there. Western society in particular has become much more tolerant and less violent than the days of colonialism. There will always be conflict in the world, and yes there are greater methods of destruction nowadays, but I think society as a whole is much more enlightened than it was in the early part of the 20th century.
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I still disagree with mostly everything except your last sentence there. Western society in particular has become much more tolerant and less violent than the days of colonialism. There will always be conflict in the world, and yes there are greater methods of destruction nowadays, but I think society as a whole is much more enlightened than it was in the early part of the 20th century.
I would agree. I'd say there is much less tolerance for war these days then there was fifty or a hundred years ago. I mean, 1 casualty in Afghanistan and people were demanding Canada pull its troops.
Last WWI combat veteran dies at 110
