28 Facts About Claude Choules

Claude Stanley Choules was a British-born military serviceman from Pershore, Worcestershire, who at the time of his death was the oldest combat veteran of the First World War from England, having served with the Royal Navy from 1915 until 1926.

Claude Choules was the last surviving military witness to the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow in 1919 and the last surviving veteran to have served in both world wars.

Claude Choules was the seventh-oldest living man in the world.

Claude Choules had been the oldest British-born man; following his death, that honour went to Reverend Reginald Dean.

Claude Choules was born in Bridge Street, Pershore, Worcestershire, on 3 March 1901 and raised in the nearby village of Wyre Piddle.

The son of Harry and Madeline, Claude Choules was one of seven children, although two died in early childhood.

Claude Choules's mother left home when Claude was five, returning to the stage as an actress, and he and his older brothers were raised by his father.

At the time of his mother's departure from the family, Claude Choules was told that she had died and he never saw her again.

Claude Choules was 13 on the outbreak of the First World War, and the family received letters from Douglas and Leslie who had joined the Australian Imperial Force and landed at Anzac Cove during the Gallipoli Campaign.

Claude Choules was able to leave school when he turned 14, at which point he attempted to enlist in the army as a bugler boy but was rejected as he was too young.

The examinations taken by Claude Choules following his training on the Mercury qualified him to attend the advanced class on the naval training ship HMS Impregnable situated at the Devonport naval base in Plymouth.

Claude Choules transferred there on 10 October 1916, for what was to be the final stage of his training before joining the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet.

On 20 October 1917 Claude Choules joined the battleship Revenge, which was the flagship of the First Battle Squadron stationed at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

In 1926, along with 11 other Royal Navy senior sailors, Claude Choules travelled to Australia on loan as an instructor at Flinders Naval Depot.

Claude Choules travelled in SS Diogenes on a six-week voyage from London to Melbourne, and it was on this voyage that he met his future wife Ethel Wildgoose who was travelling to Australia to carry out work for the Victoria League.

Claude Choules decided to transfer permanently to the Royal Australian Navy after sampling and agreeing with the Australian way of life.

Claude Choules took his discharge from the RAN in 1931, but remained in the reserves and rejoined the RAN in 1932 as a chief petty officer torpedo and anti-submarine instructor.

Claude Choules was tasked with sabotaging Fremantle harbours and related oil storage tanks in the event of a Japanese invasion.

Claude Choules was responsible for dealing with the first German mine to wash up on Australian soil during the war, near Esperance, Western Australia.

Claude Choules remained in the RAN after the Second World War and transferred to the Naval Dockyard Police to allow him to remain in service until 1956, as retirement from the RAN for ratings in those days was at age 50, while personnel could serve until 55 years old in the NDP.

Claude Choules shunned celebrations of the Armistice, because he was against the glorification of war.

Claude Choules was survived by three children, 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

Claude Choules was given a naval funeral in Fremantle, Western Australia on 20 May 2011.

The decision to name the ship after Claude Choules came about because of his status as the last surviving veteran of World War I; the naming recognises the service of enlisted sailors as part of celebrations of the navy's centenary, and acknowledges the ship's previous service under British control.

Claude Choules was the last surviving male veteran of World War I and the last surviving veteran who saw active service.

Claude Choules's death left Florence Green as the last surviving veteran.

On 10 April 2014, after a campaign by a distant relative, the Pershore Town Council agreed to honour Claude Choules by naming a street after him, in recognition of the fact that he was born in Bridge Street in the centre of the town.

In November 2009, Claude Choules became the oldest recipient of the Australian Defence Medal.