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Archiver > GREATWAR > 2004-12 > 1104270288


From: BRIAN CAVE <>
Subject: Re: [WW1] - Known British Survivors.
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:44:48 +0000 (GMT)
In-Reply-To: <001f01c4ed1e$e9046e40$bb08e440@b1wzjn54>


A DWINDLING BAND

Alan Hamilton reported in "The Times" in November, that fewer than twenty of more than five million British and Commonwealth combatants are thought to be alive in Britain. A handfull of them managed to parade before the Cenotaph on 4 August 2004 to mark the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the war. Henry Allingham, at 108 was the oldest, and he was on parade again in November. For those who might like to keep tabs on them, the known survivors were listed as:

Henry Allingham, 108 from Eastbourne, East Sussex, an air mechanic aboard HMS Kingfisher at the Battle of Jutland.

Alfred Anderson, 108, from Alyth, Perthshire, a sergeant in the Black Watch on the Somme.

George Charles, 104, from Halesworth, Suffolk, a private in the Durham Light Infantry.

Bert Clark, 104, from Rushton, was called up at the very end of the war.

Kenneth Cummins, 104, from Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, a midshipman who was torpedoed.

William Elder, 107, from Kettering, a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery.

Alfred Finnigan, 108, from Whitland, Wales, a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery.

George Hardy, 104, from Porthcawl, a private in the 6th Enniskillen Dragoons.

Harold Lawton, 105, from Rutland, a corporal in the East Yorkshire Regiment taken prisoner in 1918.

Fred Lloyd, 106, from Uckfield, East Sussex, a private in the Royal Field Artillery.

Albert Marshall, 107, from Ashstead, Surrey, a private at Ypres.

Harry Newcombe, 104, from Worthing, West Sussex, a private in the Sussex Regiment.

Harry Patch, 106, from Wells, Somerset, a private in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

Ted Rayns, 105, from Stafford, a dispatch rider on the western front.

George Rice, 107, from Birmingham, a private in the Durham Light Infantry.

William Roberts, 104, from Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire, a rigger and aircraft fitter with the Royal Flying Corps.

Willian Stone, 104, from Oxford, a chief petty officer.

Charles Watson, 104, from Bromham, Bedfordshire, an air navigator.

Cecil Withers, 106, from Bexley, a private in the Royal Fusiliers.


There is only one known German survivor of the war - Charles Kuentz, 107, who lives in Colmar, Alsace.

Brian

Peter Gower <> wrote:
Canada lost two of its last eight Great War veterans in the last days of December.
Alice Strike was the last female veteran. Born in Godalming, England on August 31st 1896, she was 108 when she died in Halifax, NS, on December 22nd. She had joined the Royal Flying Corps as a pay clerk in 1914, and so served through most of the war.
Paul Metivier also died December 22nd in Ottawa at 104. He had enlisted underage, and had served with the 4th Division Ammunition Column His son was Killed in Action in 1942.
Only six veterans are now known to be alive in Canada.


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