Global General

Last man WWI veteran dies at 110 in Australia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-05 12:54

CANBERRA - The man believed to have been the last living male veteran of World War I on Thursday died in Perth of Australia aged at 110.

World War I veteran Claude Choules sits next to a portait of himself as a young sailor, at Gracewood Retirement Village in Perth in this November 11, 2009 handout picture. Choules, the last remaining World War I combat veteran, died on Thursday in Perth, aged 110.  [Photo/Agencies]

Choules was the last known male survivor of more than 70 million military personnel during WWI, after American veteran Frank Buckles passed away in March also aged at 110.

His daughter told Australia Associated Press that Choules died in his sleep in a Perth nursing home overnight.

British-born Claude Choules joined the British navy at 14, and served in the British Royal Navy during World War I, and witnessed the 1918 surrender of the German High Seas Fleet.

He later migrated to Australia and served in the nation's military for more than 40 years.

In March, Choules celebrated his 110th birthday, and on his birthday, his son, Adrian, said his father was not excited about the attention he received as the last surviving war combat veteran.

"He's a celebrity ... but that's only because everyone else has died," he told Australia Associated Press.

"He served in two wars but he hated war. He just saw it as a job."

Choules and his wife, who passed away at the age of 98, had two daughters and a son. He also had 13 grandchildren, 26 great- grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

In 2009, Choules released his autobiography titled The Last of the Last, depicting his childhood and move to Australia, as well as his times at war.