Talk:List of surviving veterans of World War I/Archive 3

message: Greetings,
I am back from interviewing Mr. Seegers. I plan to have photos posted soon on either the GRG or the WOP websites. From the interview and his papers I determined he is almost certainly a WWI veteran though non-combat. He served in at least two different groups. One of them was the 71st battalion in Erfurt, Germany. The family showed me a long list of German papers which I have yet to go through. Mr. Seegers claimed that his time was spent in the office and guarding Allied prisoners of war. He also said he caught the Spanish flu. Mr. Seegers is anti-war and served unenthusiastically. He attempted to desert but his family persuaded him to return. He told me of sharing food with Allied soldiers. Clearly, it was a time of confusion. 
Mr. Seegers's health is moderate at best. His eyesight is still good and he can walk with a cane, but he has had recent breathing problems. Hopefully he will make 107 later this year.R Young {yakłtalk} 05:16, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: William Seegers update

message: Greetings,
While the location of the veteran as they currently live is important, I think most people agree that what force they served with is more important.
So, to review the remaining veterans by force served:
*Italy--8 veterans (6 living in Italy, two in France)
*UK--7 veterans (3 living in the UK, 3 in Australia, 1 in Canada)
*Germany--4 veterans (3 living in Germany, 1 in the USA)
*France--4 veterans (all living in France; note one--Lazarre Ponticelli--served for both France and Italy)
*USA--3 veterans (all living in the USA)
*Australia--1 veteran (living in Australia)
*Austria--1 veteran (living in Germany)
*Canada--1 veteran (living in the USA)
*Poland--1 veteran (living in Poland)
total=30 veterans (one counted twice) so in reality, 29 veterans. In addition, there is certainly one anonymous French veteran and possibly a few others, perhaps 1-2 more each from the USA, Germany, France, Italy, and Poland.R Young {yakłtalk} 00:11, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Remaining Veteran Count by Force Served

message: I've now finished the mammoth task of overhauling all of the references, that is, converting them into proper citations. This should improve the quality of the article in terms of the wikipedia ranking scale (if we are ever ranked) or criticised. In addition I found a corrsepondents reference for Louis Lagarnaudie, but I've had to drop two dead references in total, not a big deal in the scheme of things as they were well referenced anyway. Now that they have all been cited the retrieval date now stands as evidence in the event of a 404 in future times, to demonstrate that they had a legitimate citation. I might have made a mistake somewhere so if anyone spots a mistake don't hesitate to fix it RichyBoy 01:30, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Citations overhaul

message: Morning All, Heres a typical report on Henry Allinghams 111 birthday http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/07/nold107.xml He was in pretty much all of the main newspapers here, and was on all the news programmes I watched. Its makes me think about people who criticise this page on the grounds that these veterans aren't notable. In Henry Allinghams case, he has a government minister, two of the most senior officers in the British Armed Forces, one of whom delivered a hand written letter from the Queen, and a ceremonial RAF flypast, which he watched from the decks of HMS Victory. So we in Britain reckon he is a notable figure! Thanks SRwiki 06:56, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Henry Allingham 111 update 

message: The first top-level section headers says "First World War"; the second says "World War I"; the third says "WWI"; and fourth doesn't include the name of the war.  --zenohockey 04:16, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inconsistency 

message: Can somebody tell me how I can change the bottem-numbers on the Veterans of the First World War who died in - lists? I added some german veterans in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.
There are some problems with Veterans_of_the_First_World_War_who_died_in_1999. The format isn't correct in the New Zealand-list. Also the german and new Foundland-lists are mix in one by wiki and I don't know why. Can someon fix this problem? 
Statistician 11.06.2007 18:01 (CET)
Now fixed - might be an idea to try changes out in the sandbox first before saving.86.129.82.180 22:57, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Format Problems 

message: Greetings,
I think we should attempt to write documented/cited articles for the following remaining WWI un-bio'd veterarns:
*Syd Lucas (UK/Australia)
*Justin Tuveri (Italy/France)
*Rudolph Christmann (Germany)
*Erich Kastner (Germany)
*Franz Kunster (Germany/Austria)
*Stanislaw Wycech (Poland)
*William Seegers (Germany/USA)
Note that for Mr. Seegers, I plan to write one as soon as the story hits the newspaper. I'm holding back on the press to give the documentarians a chance to interview/photograph him first (if he recovers from his current illness).
For the others, remember that earlier attempts at writing an article were deleted by just one powerful Wikipedian with a vendetta. The weakness was, there were no citation links, the articles were not 'watched,' and there was not enough explanation as to rarity.
I believe all these men are rare enough now (less than 30!) to deserve a separate bio. It wouldn't be very difficult to write an article that withstands scrutiny, now that much effort has been made to find citations. Remember, often when someone dies, it is too late to get people to do an article. So, for example those from Germany, can you re-write the German articles now? It would help. 
Sincerely,
Robert YoungR Young {yakłtalk} 02:56, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: And so it is. Extremely sexy 22:40, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Remaining Unbio'd Vets

message: I am asking this question out of genuine curiosity. At what point does the GRG start checking claims to supercentenarian status? is it on the claimants 110th birthday or do you start checking in the year before? I was just wondering because Jim Lincoln is now approaching his 109th birthday, and presumably, is now somewhere on the GRG radar screen and I would be interested to hear GRG's opinion on whether he is as old as he says he is. Thanks SRwiki 08:38, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Just stumbled on this page and saw Mr. Lincoln lives in my hometown, found this if anyone needs a source http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/06/28/d1.cr.108yearold.0628.p1.php?section=cityregion 198.6.46.11 16:03, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Jim Lincoln - A question for GRG? 

message: The BBC are carrying a small article about his 109th birthday. It doesn't appear to be a new interview so it mostly contains comments that you can find on his WW1 Bio page on the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6760973.stm 
RichyBoy 11:04, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Harry Patch update 

message: Greetings,
Today I found out that Louis Lagaurnadie of France (born June 17, 1899) passed away Oct. 26, 2006, aged 107 years 131 days.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Worlds_Oldest_People/message/8044
Ryoung122 05:32, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Louis Lagaurnadie 1899-2006

message: I think it is good to make a list of the last updates of the veterans. I will start. 
Statistician 18.06.2007 12:30 (CET)
Living in Germany:
*Christmann, Rudolf: I had a telephone call with his granddaughter last week. Statistician 18.06.2007 12:30 (CET)
*Kästner, Erich: I had a telephone call with his son 07.05.2007. Statistician 18.06.2007 12:30 (CET)
*Künstler, Franz: I had a telephone call with the director of the Jagdmuseum where Künstler lives and works at about 24.04.2007. Statistician 18.06.2007 12:30 (CET)
It's probably more appropriate for veterans of certain countries than of others. Veterans residing in the UK, USA and Italy are by-and-large well-documented, as are ex-pats residing in Austrailia. I was surpised that Mr Lagarnaudie had evaded a report of death mind you, but, he was a very private individual apparantly. I must admit out of all the veterans I am most concerned about it is Jozef Kowalski, there is still no fresh information about what war effort he may have contributed to, I wouldn't feel all that great inside to discover he was a legitimate veteran after he has passed away. RichyBoy 23:51, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You do mean Rudolf Christmann, right? Extremely sexy 17:54, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Last update 

message: http://dersdesders.free.fr/russie.html
I admit in this instance I've not checked the previous discussion history, but has this person been discussed before as a WW1 candidate? RichyBoy 23:32, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Stanisław Soliński 

message: http://www.wojewodalubuski.pl/?mod=news&act=archivedetail&nID=2860&page=165
"Walczył już podczas I wojny światowej, II wojnę spędził w niewoli, a po jej zakończeniu osiedlił się w Przemysławiu pod Krzeszycami"
I've seen that before, the problem is that all of the 107 birthay articles appear to be from the same press release, this one is slightly more edited than most. The original press release is just plain ambiguous. RichyBoy 16:35, 20 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: What happened to WP:NOR?  ← ROGER →  TALK 16:37, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

text: Which article of the WP:NOR do you think this page breaks? SRwiki 07:32, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

text: Which article of the WP:NOR do you think this page breaks? SRwiki 07:32, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

text: You will take this back immediately, because I won't tolerate your name calling anymore at all, especially since you are wrong as well: I haven't edited comments of others in a long time, but this was an unsigned comment which I corrected, and, in doing this, I added the wrong person just by mistake, which has now been ameliorated as well. Extremely sexy 12:21, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

text: You just continue in your typical egoistic ways of doing, just as Mr. Jeff Knight used to tell me: this is not done, and simply only results in even more people going to dislike you, because your behaviour is far from tolerable, but if you like or want to go on in exactly the same vain, be my guest, and nobody will stand you anymore you know. Extremely sexy 02:50, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

text: As I already mentioned above, name calling is a habit of yours, and you're only contributing to it getting even worse by the minute, but apparently it's no use at all pointing this out to you, regrettably so, since you won't stop, proving my point in the process, which is all the more disappointing, taking into account your professional status. Extremely sexy 02:50, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

text: First of all, it's not prohibited to edit whatever articles there are, so I won't ever give in to your dictatorship at all, secondly, you are the most egocentric person I ever met (and I have met some already, meaning not just a few persons), and finally, last but not least, I don't understand your comparison with Nadal, whom I like personally. Extremely sexy 22:42, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Józef Kowalski

message: In Surviving veterans of World War I you chose to remove my changes to this sentence:
British WWI veteran, 111-year-old Henry Allingham (born June 6, 1896), is currently the oldest living verified veteran.
It was correct as I had it. It would also be correct this way:
British WWI veteran 111-year-old Henry Allingham, born June 6, 1896, is currently the oldest living verified veteran.
But it is incorrect the way you have it. There is a simple test. If you remove the commas and the text between them, the remaining sentence would still make sense:
British WWI veteran is currently the oldest living verified veteran.
But it does not. So it has been fixed again, this time using the correct example above, which I hope you find more to your liking. --DHLister | Talk 21:07, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Usage of the comma

message: After a much faster-than-expected death rate this year, it seems the remaining vets are holding on...now up to 22 days in a row without a reported death. I think that once they get this close, there becomes an awareness...for example Russell Coffey and his family are aware that he is just one of three remaining American WWI vets...Ryoung122 15:51, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Death rates slowing down

message: Several months back there was talk of another possible  WWI veteran living here in the USA, but did not wish to come forward. Does anyone know if this is or was true, and could this person have been Mr. Seegers that fought for Germany?  162.114.211.143 16:09, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Question

message: I see he has been recorded as dying on 27 June. Has anyone found anything to back this up? SRwiki 13:29, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes: "Statistician" just told us. Extremely sexy 17:55, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

text: When the youngest person on the list is 105, it's doubtful many more will be forthcoming.  We'll most likely hear of new vets upon their death. Czolgolz 15:21, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rudolf Christmann? 

message: Surprisingly, the death of Rudolph Christmann brought a comment that he was not one of the 'big' ones. Would someone like to 'rank' the remaining veterans as to:
A. combat time served
B. relative importance
It may be said that, for example, John Babcock is more important due to his uniqueness. However, what about persons like Justin Tuveri, who served more than a year?Ryoung122 22:58, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Just be my guest if you want to. Extremely sexy 14:09, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Most important veterans

message: Orin Peterson was alive as of today, when I called.68.218.42.20 02:06, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Update

message: Harry Patch is known as the 'last Tommy,' or the last British army veteran to have served in trench warfare. I'm particularly interested in those vets who faced bullets and survived, and/or were wounded in action.
Those that appear to qualify are:
*Louis de Cazenave (France)
*Lazare de Ponticelli (France/Italy), also combat-wounded
*Erich Kastner (Germany)
*Justin Tuveri (for Italy)
*Franz Kunstler (Austria-Hungary)
*Delfino Borroni (Italy), also prisoner of war
*Francesco Chiarello (Italy)
*Harry Patch (UK), also combat-wounded
perhaps: 
*Henry Allingham (UK)
*Stanislaw Wycech (Poland)
Ryoung122 01:56, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: 'Trench' Veterans

message: This was just entered Erich Kästner (WWI veteran)--Hourick 03:55, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  One more to verify and add to the list..and hurry! 

message: An unregistered user added Anton Bodhal (again) as well as the oldest males from Germany and the Netherlands. Given that reputable researchers from these nations have NOT mentioned these guys as WWI veterans, I must assume this is mere wishful thinking or speculation (like Boris Efimov).
Actually, these cases aren't even claims because no one in the media is claiming them to be WWI veterans. 
If the anonymous user has evidence to support these assertions, a discussion HERE should be made first.
I would like more than anyone to find more WWI vets, but we have known about the Dutch guy for over a year and no one from the Netherlands has asserted he served in any military force yet.Ryoung122 21:52, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Wishful-Thinking Claims

message: Do Red Cross Nurses in Europe during the times of WWI count as veterans? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.141.5.124 (talk • contribs) 
:Interesting question, my reaction would be no for the following reasons: 
:1. Even though the Red Cross operated at or near the front lines, it was still a civilian organisation. If we go beyond listing military personnel were do we stop? The next logical category would be merchant seamen - the allied merchant fleets (notably US and UK) suffered enormous loses during WW1. Then if we start listing them you could go on and on, making a case for the citizens of Paris - shelled by Big Bertha, or people on the receiving end of bombing raids for example. I think our "were they enlisted?" test with its straight forward yes/no answer is by far the best definition we are likely to come up with.
:2. As an entirely neutral, humanitarian organisation, I suspect the Red Cross itself would be aghast if we started listing its personnel as military veterans. SRwiki 07:29, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  World War I Nurses 

message: Well, it seems our recent discoveries are not doing well:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Worlds_Oldest_People/message/8160
Enrico GARBUGLIA 1900-2007   Message List    
Reply | Forward | Delete   Message #8160 of 8160 < Prev | Next >  
Sadly, the newly discovered Italian WWI veteran, Enrico Garbuglia,
born on 30 march 1900, died a few days after my discovery, on 2 june
2007.
Best regrds
Giovanni Alunni
p.s.The other Italian veterans (only those living in Italy) are
confirmed alive as of today 12 july.
 Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:16 am 
 Show Message Option 
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"giovannialunni" 
This also leaves the British-born vets clear in the lead, 7 to 6 over Italy...Ryoung122 18:21, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Enrico Garbuglia 1900-2007

message: Greetings,
Less a tidal wave than a ripple, but I did help convince two newspapers to run an article on Mr. Seegers. Comments to make it look like someone is interested would help not just this case, but others as well:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/12/BAG61QV5G31.DTL
Here is the other story:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_6356814
Ryoung122 19:19, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Article Commentary?

message: The UK press have ran a number of articles in the last couple of days or so, and it is heartening to see such recognition for the last UK-residents who fought in the Great War. 
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/BritainsOldestWarVeteransMeetServiceChiefsAtTheMinistryOfDefence.htm
http://www.itv.com/news/britain_a936741c38cc7283f10c789b201f9b51.html
The best article I think is the Daily Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=467533&in_page_id=1770
On Harry Patch: "Soon the veteran's memories of the conflict will be published in the memoir The Last Fighting Tommy, written with historian Richard van Emden."  Probably a book I will buy and read. It's a shame that he felt unable to make the journey from Somerset to London through frailty.  RichyBoy 10:48, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: think daily mail should get peoples ages right!Webbmyster 16:20, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed so: you do mean Harry Patch is 109, not 104, right? Extremely sexy 17:18, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: UK press coverage for the Queen's private garden party and the commemoration of the Battle of Passchendaele

message: Greetings,
I do find these two stories compelling:
Lazarre Ponticelli, wounded in action:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://perso.orange.fr/memoire78/pages/ponti.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=4&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLazarre%252BPonticelli%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG
In the Tyrol, vis-a-vis the Austrians, it was a black disorder. Our own artillery undoubtedly bombarded us. One was decimated. But buddies fell one by one. They had died or wounded. I was with the machine-gun. The order was given to me to draw on the exit from a gallery. I did it. An Austrian ball reached me with the face. Blood ran me in the eyes. I said myself that if I stopped, I had died. I continued to draw in spite of my wound. And suddenly, the Austrians left, they agitated white cloths A little later…, I was transferred in a hospital in Naples. Wounded to the face, Lazarre Ponticelli will quickly return to fight.
Harry Patch, wounded in action:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2115789,00.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ninety-years-to-forget-but-his-bloody-war-lives-on/2007/07/13/1183833774275.html
The last survivor of Passchendaele
Ninety years after, a veteran aged 109 tells of his moment of truth on the battlefield 
David Smith
Sunday July 1, 2007
The Observer 
Harry Patch is the last fighting Tommy of the First World War. He alone will preserve the living memory of the carnage of the Battle of Passchendaele on its 90th anniversary this month.
Next week Patch, now aged 109, will meet his sole surviving British-based comrades from the First World War - Henry Allingham, 111, who served in the RAF, and 106-year-old Bill Stone, formerly of the Royal Navy. The three will have a private audience with the Queen, attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace and meet chiefs of staff at the Ministry of Defence.
Article continues
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Two days later, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will travel to Belgium to commemorate Passchendaele, a name which became synonymous with the mud and carnage of the Great War. They will attend a service at the Tyne Cot graveyard, the biggest military cemetery in Europe, and a Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, a memorial arch inscribed with the names of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died with no known graves. The veterans are too frail to travel so soon after visiting London, but hope to make the pilgrimage this summer.
Passchendaele, officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, cost 300,000 allied lives for the sake of five miles conquered during three months of attrition under the command of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. The war poet Siegfried Sassoon gave it the epitaph: 'I died in hell - they called it Passchendaele.'
Preparations for the battle began with a two-week bombardment of German positions with 4.5 million shells fired from about 3,000 guns. The infantry offensive was launched on 31 July, with the aim of pushing north-east to free the German-occupied ports on the Belgian coast, but within days allied forces had literally become stuck in the mud. Torrential rain, the heaviest in 30 years, and the previous shelling had turned the area into a quagmire. Guns, tanks and other machinery seized up in the conditions, and in places the mud was so deep that men, horses and pack mules drowned. On 6 November, after a long stalemate, allied troops reached the Belgian village of Passchendaele, by now a ruin. A total of about half a million men died.
Patch was a teenage conscript in 1917 and still remembers the battle as 'mud, mud and more mud mixed together with blood'. Last year, in up to 100 hours of conversations at his nursing home in Wells, Somerset, the old soldier poured out his life story to the First World War historian Richard van Emden. The result is the imminent publication by Bloomsbury of a memoir, The Last Fighting Tommy, which could make Patch the world's oldest first-time author.
'My Remembrance Day is on 22 September, when I lost three mates,' he once said. It was on that date in 1917, serving in the 7th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, that Patch's battalion was returning to the support line when, he tells van Emden in the book, one of them stopped to 'spend a penny'. There was a flash and bang as a shell exploded just yards away, knocking Patch out for a couple of seconds. When he regained consciousness, he felt blood on his tunic and applied a field dressing, then passed out again. A piece of shrapnel was lodged in his groin. He later discovered that three of his friends had been killed.
But the story which most affected van Emden was Patch's memory of a Cornishman ripped from shoulder to waist with shrapnel, his stomach on the ground beside him. 'Shoot me,' the young soldier begged, but before Patch could draw his revolver the man was dead. In a 2005 interview, Patch recalled: 'I was with him for the last 60 seconds of his life. He gasped one word - "Mother". That one word has run through my brain for 88 years. I will never forget it. I think it is the most sacred word in the English language. It wasn't a cry of distress or pain; it was one of surprise and joy.'
You know, it is hard to believe that so few actual trench war veterans are left; of the '23' left, only 10 seem to have been, maybe, a trench veteran...but even of these 10, how many have told their story for history's sake? Can anyone find details for some of the hard-to-find cases, like Erich Kastner?Ryoung122 10:35, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Trench War Stories

message: Is still alive? 22 march 2006 - 105 years old
Born: 22 march 1901
battle - Nieszawa - 1920
[]
If he fought in 1920, then he would be a WWI-era veteran, at best...not a WWI veteran.Ryoung122 21:40, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Antoni Rosiński

message: Just a quick look at some stats:
But none has so touched the national psyche as World War I. The war museum at Peronne, in France, lists the number of men mobilised and the number killed from the various combatants, with the percentage of dead to mobilised.
Advertisement
AdvertisementGermany mobilised 13.2 million, of whom 2 million died (15.4 per cent); France 7.9 million, of whom 1.3 million died (16.8); of Russia's 15.8 million, 1.8 million died (11.5); and of Britain's 5.7 million, 715,000 died (12.5).
Australia mobilised 413,000, of whom 60,000 died, or 14.5 per cent.
No mention of Austria-Hungary or Turkey.
So it seems that the most deaths were:
1. Germany
2. Russia
3. France
Yet we see that proportionality has less to do with 'significance' than perspective-bias. Very little information is available about Russia. Almost in inverse proportion, it seems the less contribution made, the greater the news coverage.Ryoung122 22:36, 14 July 
2007 (UTC)
Morning All, Just thought I would add some more nations to the above - My figures are based on the Times Atlas of World History. Its figures for France Russia and Germany are in the same ballpark as the figures above, but it only gives a total British Empire figure of 9.5 mill, 1 mill, 10.5%. 
So the others are as follows:
1, 1,000,000 or more servicemen-
Austria Hungary 9mill, 1mill, 11.6%; 
Italy 5.6mill, 533,000, 9.5%; 
USA 3.8mill, 116,000 3%; 
Ottoman empire 2.8mill, 325,000, 11.6%; 
Serbia 1mill, 322,000, 32.2%; 
Romania 1 mill, 158,000 15.8%;
Less than 1,000,000 service men
Bulgaria 950,000, 49,000 5%;
Japan 800,000, 2,000 0.25%;
Greece 200,000, 5,000 2.5%;
Portugal 100,000, 7,000 7%
Montenegro 50,000 3,000 6%
looking through the list, couple of things surprise me, 
1, the gap between GB and the total for the British Empire. But a little bit of research suggests that between them India 1.5 mill, Canada 650,000 Australia 400,000 South Africa and NZ with 130,000 each make up most of the difference. I would hazard a guess the remaining 1 million must have been drawn from elsewhere in the Empire - the figures for whom I don't have to hand.
2, I was surprised at the relatively small force fielded by the Ottoman Empire.
3, The Serbian army appeared to have taken massive casualties, relative to it's size.
I don't know what my list adds to the discussion on surviving vets, but I just thought it might be of interest to some of you. SRwiki 11:30, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: WWI Numbers

message: Greetings,
It seems that it is easier for people to add unsourced vets to the 'died in year XXXX' lists. For example, dies anyone know if Tonio Selwart really was a WWI veteran, or is that just another Boris Efimov claim? I suggest a second scouring and removal of all unsourced claims.Ryoung122 22:38, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: "Vets died in XXXX"--Unsourced Statements

message: Veterans whose deaths are still unreported, but are unlikely to be living:
- André Tuchini : vétéran français de la Première Guerre en vie à la fin 2002.
- Joseph Julé : vétéran français de la Première Guerre en vie à la fin 2002.
- Jean Rémy : vétéran français de la Première Guerre en vie à la fin 2002.
 - Doumitrascu Lacatusu (22-03-1891 / vivant en 1998, dâte de décès inconnue) : Bucarest
- Naum Djordjevitch (10-09-1898 / vivant en mai 1999) : Belgrade.
Ryoung122 23:44, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Limbo

message: As we have photos of 'most' of the remaining WWI vets, does anyone want to add photos, perhaps to their bio pages?Ryoung122 11:22, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Photo Tagging  (PHOTO WEBSITE OF REMAINING VETS)

message: saw the name as germanys oldest man and just thought i'd never seen his name before, im sure mr.young has checked before but is he a possibility for service in the war? Webbmyster 20:46, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Georg Thalhofer 

message: I am astonished not to see the names of any service personnel from Imperial Japan on these lists from 1999 onwards. Given Japan's alliance with Britain at that time and its reputation for human longevity it would be an absolute shock to me if there were none still alive during this time frame. I therefore think investigation into this issue is in order.JeepAssembler 00:37, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possibility of Surviviving Japanese World War 1 Veterans. 

message: Based on actuarial calculations; there should have been a grand total of about 10,000 World War 1 Veterans still alive at various places in the world in the year 1999. Yet I see a total of only 1,531 names on these lists (through July 18th, 2007); with ridiculously low numbers for Russia, Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and even the United States prior to 2004. Of course the passage of time and change of national borders could have hindered accurate record keeping. Also, not a single case is named for Japan, India, China, Brazil, Greece, Bulgaria, or the Ottoman Empire. Admittedly those nations were all less developed at the time and so a life span of 100 years in them would probably be equivalent to someone living 105 or perhaps closer to 110 years in the west. Nonetheless it seems that at least a few cases should still have been alive in those nations in 1999.JeepAssembler 00:42, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Feel free to dig up the names and add them no one said the article is complete. With wiki's rules of having sources and with the nations you mentioned at that time and place record keeping wasn't top priority let alone retaining them and making them accessable 90 years later. --Xiahou 00:49, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  There should be thousands. 

message: Greetings,
I received this word about Anton Bohdal:
RE: [KarlFranzJosefvonHabsburg-Lothringen] Re: Anton Bohdal - last K.u.k vet?? 
According to Glenn Jewison of the Austro Hungarian Land Forces Discusion
Forum, the gentleman, Anton Bohdal, does not appear on the Army List for
1918.
Leo Sweeney
698 Twin Oak Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15235-2632
412.795.7340
Again, it appears doubtful that Mr. Bohdal served in WWI. Speculation amongst some over-eager people seems to envision any man over the age of 105 as a WWI veteran. However, as this list grows thinner, the standards for acceptance must increase. With only 23 known veterans left worldwide, it becomes paramount to focus on the proven veterans and not on the speculative, wishful-thinking entries. We are only keeping tabs as there have been a 'small' number that have turned out to be true (i.e. Harry Richard Landis) but more often than not, have come up short (i.e. Robley Rex, Merlyn Kreuger, Orin Peterson, etc).Ryoung122 06:46, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Anton Bohdal, part II

message: Last year I looked in an old Veterans Administration Statistical book; it published data on the number of living veterans of America's various conflicts through July 1959. It stated that at that time the average U.S. WW1 veteran was 65.2 years of age, which would imply an average (50th percentile) birth month of May, 1894 (like George Johnson). It gave no corresponding information on veterans from other nations; but considering that the U.S.A did not enter the conflict until April, 1917 while the war actually began in August, 1914 it seems sensible to subtract the difference (2 Years and 8 Months)from the U.S. average to get the average for the  european nations and their then colonial subjects. This would yield an average birth month of September, 1891 (almost like Emiliano Mercado Del Toro) for their WW1 vets; I justify this by the fact that the overwhelming majority of WW1 service personnel were from europe and it's colonies. A grand Total of 65,000,000 troops were mobilized for that war; of which 14,000,000 died. That means that 51,000,000 would have survived beyond November 11th, 1918. An average birth month of September, 1891 would mean an average age for the entire cohort of 115 Years and 10 Months right now (July 19th, 2007). The odds against someone living to their 116th birthday are approximately 3,000,000 to 1; therefore about 17 of the 51,000,000 survivors should still be alive. One final word, Statistical models generally lose their accuracy when the sample size is less than 30; the variance is to great.JeepAssembler 23:07, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  How Many Should Still Be Alive Today? 

message: Yesterday I posted in this forum in which I estimated about 17 WW1 vets should still be alive; which clearly is wrong, so I feel the need to elaborate. First off I inferred that the average birth month for all military service personnel was Sept. 1891; this is probably pretty close considering that the average age for U.S. service people was 26 when WW2 ended in 1945, so maybe 1892 would have been a better estimate. But that would only have been the Mean (Sum of all people's birthdates divided by total number of people), not the Median (Date when exactly half were born before and half after), nor the Mode (Year or years in which the largest number of people were born). And so 1893,'94, or even '95 might have been a better choice (especially if a large percentage of teenagers were either conscripted or forced by economic circumstances to join). This would revise the average age of the surviving cohort down to as little as 112 years; which the odds against living to are only 140,000 to 1; leaving room for about 364 still living, which is clearly incorrect. This points to a second problem, the actuarial data which I used is for U.S. males. It states that the odds against an American man living to age 100 is 250 to 1, at which time expectancy is 2 years through age 104; 1 and 1/2 years until 107, 1 year until 110, and 45 to 1 against a 110 year old American man celebrating his 115th birthday. So the odds against an American man living to 104 is 1,000 to 1, 107 is 4,000 to 1, 110 is 32,000 to 1, and 115 is 1,440,000 to 1. Yet Americans, Japanese, Italians, and Norwegians seem to live longer than British, French, and Germans; who in turn outlive Russians and Poles. So actuarial data from those nations are needed. Actuarial data can yield other ridiculous results too, for example if the odds against living to 115 really are 1,440,000 to 1 and 20,000,000 people were born in 1891 (The same year as Emiliano Mercado Del Toro) then 7 men (assuming 10,000,000 each of boys and girls born that year) and 70 women (female supercentenarians outnumber males by 10 to 1)should have been his age or older. There could be more than one Mode Year of birth (1892 may have been one but so could have 1899 if populous nations like Russia, the U.S.A. or Germany experienced a "baby burst"). I will also acknowledge that a list of surviving veterans (Or participants in anything for that matter) is inherently on the conservative side, demanding a high standard of evidence and thus likely to exclude people who for whatever reasons are not able to meet the standards even if they really are legitimate. Finally, I have read it estimated that about 75,000,000,000 have lived on this planet, of which only 6,600,000,000 (or about 9%) are alive today.JeepAssembler 23:05, 20 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Elaboration on and Criticism of Actuarial Calculations 

message: Since these lists start in 1999, and the record life span for any recorded veteran was about 3 weeks shy of his 113th birthday for an Italian man with last name Todde who died in January, 2002 it seems that the earliest birth year to use would be 1887; allowing for a 112th in 1999. The U.K.'s population increased from c.33 mil in 1887 to 37.8 mil in 1901; including deaths there were probably 8 mil Brits and Irish born in this period. In the lists for the U.K. and Ireland it is noted that almost 1,200 more men of WW1 vet age died in those countries between 1999 and 2004 whose status was not checked; of course not all would served (Indeed some probably didn't even live there between 1914 and 1918). But if 1/3 did; (a reasonable assumption considering that 5.5 million Brits served; the rest of the Britsh Empire's total mobilization force of 10.5 mil must have come from it's colonies) then that would leave almost 400 undiscovered British Islers. In addition, if the Veterans Administration tables which I read giving May, 1894 as the average birth month for U.S. personnel are correct and the odds of an American man living to age 105 and 1/2 really are 2,000 to 1 then at least theoretically 2,300 of the 4,600,000 "Doughboys" and WW1 era U.S. vets should have been alive in November, 1999. The lists have a total of only 570 American names though; There were probably 1,500 to 2,000 more. There are probably a few hundred more undiscovered German cases from 1999 onwards. France (Which places a high relevance on the war and therefore probably keeps better tabs on it's surviving vets than the U.K., U.S.A., or Germany), Italy (which only mobilized about half as many troops as Britain or Germany but has good longevity), and the lands which comprised the Austro-Hungarian Empire (most of which were devastated by post WW1 chaos and again during WW2 but still have good longevity) would also each probably yield dozens more. Those would seem to me the best places to look for more World War 1 Veterans still alive from 1999 onwards.JeepAssembler 17:19, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Good places to look for more 

message: In early 2002 I bought a World Almanac (evidently affiliated with Time Magazine); at that time I was more interested in things like terrorism, presidential elections and space exploration. Veterans statistics were not even on my radar at that time. Nonetheless, after I started becoming interested in them 2 or 3 years later I looked them up (page 373) and it stated that the U.S. Veterans Administration estimated that 2,503 U.S.A. WW1 vets were still alive in May, 2001. (For the record it also gave living veteran statistics of 5.4 mil for WW2, 3.9 mil for Korea; many Korean conflict vets also served in WW2, 8.7 mil for Viet Nam, and 1.7 mil for Desert Storm). These statistics for later conflicts seemed to agree closely with Census Bureau data and accouting for natural deaths; in the 2000 U.S. Census it was reported that just under 5,800,000 American WW2 Vets were still alive. So I would tend to give credence to the Almanac's statistics. I also came across an article pertaining to either the Great War Society or the Portland Oregonian Newspaper about Mr. Howard Verne Ramsey, a U.S. WW1 Vet who died in early 2007. The article wrote about Mr. Ramsey's speech to The Great War Society's Portland, Oregon meeting in the May, 2001 (The same month for the almanac's statistics), which stated that Mr. Ramsey was one of fewer than 500 U.S. WW1 Vets still alive at that time whom had been deployed to France. But only about 2 million "doughboys" actually made it to the western front, out of 4,355,000 total enlisted by Nov. 11, 1918 (don't know what the proportions for other allied nation's were though). The point being that only about half of America's WW1 Vets actually made it "over there". Thus the French government's recognition of foreigners who helped their country in the "Great War" should only be used as a starting point to determine who was still alive after 1999. JeepAssemblerJeepAssembler 20:04, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Have you still got it, please? Extremely sexy 21:08, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  2002 Time Almanac with information regarding veteran statistics 

message: Instead of just arguing over actuarial calculations, lists of living and deceased, or the number which the VA or other entity should have been alive at a certain time; why not appeal to a more encompassing authority. Namely, how many men of available age a national census says were alive at a particular time. In the 2000 U.S.A. census it counted just over 14,000 male centenarians (and 57,000 female centenarians). In the veterans statistics almanac for 1959 which I referred to several days ago it stated that 84.6% of the U.S.A.'s WW1 vets were then between 60 and 69 years old; since the data was for July, 1959 that would imply birth months between August, 1889 and July, 1899. During that time frame the U.S. population increased from 62.0 mil to 74.9 mil; a difference of 12.9 mil. Assuming a 2 to 1 ratio of birth to deaths would yield 25.8 mil births; just over half being boys. So about 13 mil boys were born in the U.S.A. during that time frame. There was a grand total of 4,734,991 U.S. service personnel between April 6th, 1917 and December 31st, 1919 (I know this later date would mean including people who were not really WW1 vets; but this sight includes such as WW1 era vets anyway). So 13 mil boys were born in the U.S.A. between August, 1889 and July, 1899; 84.6% of 4,734,991 is 3,980,233 or 30.6% of the 13 mil in that age group. I don't know what percentage of the 14,000 male centenarians in the U.S.A. in 2000 were really supercentenarians, but it must have been small since most estimates put the number of superC's in the whole world at only 300 - 400. So let's then just reasonably assume that almost all were under 110. A calculation of 30.6% of 14,000 is 4,284; even assuming that armed service veterans generally come from less fortunate socio-economic backgrounds and therefore have lower life expectancies than most of the population and reducing this estimate by 50% to account for this fact would still yield 2,142 alive at that time (April 1st, 2000). Because of the fact that the U.S. census uses April 1st as it's guideline it would not have recorded as centenarians people whose birthdates were later; I think Russell Buchanan would fall into this group, not to mention Frank Buckles. Also, the 1959 vet stats book would have included those born after July,1899 in the 50 -59 age group (Only 2.7% of U.S. WW1 vets at that time; obviously this percentage would have increased by 2000). My point is that at least at a theoretical level there should be about 2,000 more U.S. names on these lists. Looking at census data from other nations (I know the U.K had a census in 2001) should yield more relevant probabilities. Finally, I know that the U.S.A. (my country) has not been very kind to it's WW1 vets, such as denying them their bonuses during the depression and generally ignoring them (Maybe the passage of time and the political, economic, and social effects of later conflicts caused this neglect) and so the VA's reliance on actuarial data to estimate the number still living rather than actually counting may be part of this. Maybe there really weren't very many more, but logic and common sense tells me that there were.JeepAssembler 15:44, 23 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  National Census data could help 

message: Evening all, just out on one of my periodic Jim Lincoln trawls (it's a very quiet evening) and I have found another snippet on his polymathic skills. http://theblognut.net/2006/04/ the relevant bit reads: 
"We get the feeling that the Spudnut-Asthetic hasn’t changed a bit since it opened 37 years ago. Linoleum floors, vinyl stools, and plenty of neighborhood comfort, Spudnuts exists in its own time and its own dimension. The walls are lined with original paintings by friend-of-Spudnut Dr. Jim Lincoln, a 107 year-old Oregon native who reportedly helped take some the earliest photographs of DNA and once played Chamber music with Albert Einstein. We could have stayed all day."
It just amuses me, some of the claims this guy makes. Though on a more serious note, the generally accepted story for the photographing of DNA is that it was first photograped (as an X-ray diffraction) in 1951 by Rosalind Franklyn in Oxford (UK), this image set Crick and Watson on the trail. Oddly enough any credit for Dr J is strangely absent. Though to be fair if the paintings on the wall of this particular Spudnuts are by Jim Lincoln, then this could represent the first verifiable fact about him. SRwiki 18:35, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  A gentleman and a scholar? 

message: It seems like those two fellows have what I call "Brushy Bill Roberts Syndrome", after an elderly man by that name in Texas in 1950 who claimed that he was Billy The Kid in his youth; that Sheriff Pat Garrett let him get away instead of shooting him 70 years earlier as commonly accepted. It seems like every conflict has old men who claimed to have participated but really didn't; I guess wanting to construct a more heroic past for oneself is something which no age group is immune to.JeepAssembler 14:46, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Jim Lincoln and William Olin 

message: In the footnotes for lists of the U.K. and Ireland from 1999 to 2004 are admissions that a grand total of 1,189 men of age's records were not checked and that Scottish and Irish records were not checked either; it seems like someone else needs to do more invetigating. Oh, by the way, the U.K. mobilized about 80% of it's military age male population during WW1; 80% of 1,189 is 951 more potential vets; and thats not even including the Scots and Irish! Although any Irish survivors may be embarrased to admit that they served The Crown at that time, with the 1916 Easter Uprising and all.  JeepAssembler 15:12, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The last known Irish veterans - Thomas Shaw (Northern Ireland) and Robert Ruttledge (Republic of Ireland) - both died in 2002 (see entries on the Died in 2002 page). 86.129.77.209 19:30, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Look hard enough? 

message: Young has died http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2141036.ece
if you see the Times Obituary above.
I'm afraid I have to rush off to work now so can't complete the wiki pages in full, I'm hoping someone can just tidy up after me, thanks.
A sad loss, the first British veteran to die for a while.
RIP
Richard J
:Thanks for the update, albeit a very sad one indeed, but I will update all the pages right now, my friend. Extremely sexy 13:30, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  William Young 1900-2007 

message: Apart from you folks on the other side of the Atlantic, it's now the 27th, so tomorrow is the anniversary of Austria's declaration of war on Serbia. The alliance system lead to an August of declarations and therefore the First World War. It makes me wonder whether any of the vets will be alive for the centenary, or in 2014 period. Lazzare Ponticelli would be ideal since he saw action in 1914, but it would need a world record (sans Izumi). Even for those who served later underage, Choules and Wycech, it still requires Del Toro standard longevity for them to reach their own personal centenary, but not for 2014, so it's eminently possible. It would be somewhat distasteful to say 'place your bets', so, discuss. 84.13.23.67 02:17, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  93rd Anniversary Tomorrow 

message: Greetings,
A bombshell:
http://dersdesders.free.fr/bio_veterans/satar.html
Yakup SATAR, 109 ans, ultime vétéran de l'Empire Ottoman, 
et dernier survivant turc de la Première Guerre mondiale 
 
 Il est le dernier vétéran de l'Empire Ottoman et l'ultime survivant turc de la Première Guerre mondiale. Yakup SATAR est né le 11 mars 1898 en Crimée. Son père, Zeki Bey, fut un des chefs tartares qui combattit pour l'indépendance turque contre la Russie. Yakup s'engage dans l'armée turque ottomane en 1915. Après une période de formation militaire à Istanbul, des officiers allemands le sélectionnent (avec 200 de ses compatriotes) pour suivre un entraînement spécifique. Le 20 octobre 2003, Yakup Satar confiait à un journaliste du quotidien turque "Hürriyet" : <<Nous portions des uniformes particuliers. Les allemands nous fournirent des masques. Nous plaisantions souvent entre nous à cause des masques que nous portions sur nos visages. Plus tard, nous apprenions que notre compagnie était surnommée "gazcilar", les "soldats du gaz". Les Allemands nous ordonnèrent de lancer des gaz sur l'ennemi. Ils nous avertirent qu'il fallait alors maintenir la bouche fermée. Nous ne pouvions même pas parler de notre entraînement si particulier à nos familles dans nos lettres. Après cette phase d'entraînement, 50 d'entre-nous furent envoyés sur le front de Bagdad dans un train spécial constitué de nombreuses troupes militaires>>. Yakup Satar ne connaissait pas la destination d'arrivée. Le vieil homme reprend : <<Après un long voyage nous arrivâmes à Bagdad. Nous stationnions dans des tentes, en plein désert. Nous dûmes attendre des équipements durant un mois. Nous n'étions pas autorisés à parler avec d'autres soldats. Six mois plus tard, nous recevions les ordres d'Istanbul : "notre troupe avait interdiction d'utiliser les gaz." >> Au même moment les troupes britanniques atteignaient Bassora. Le soldat d'infanterie Yakup Satar aurait été fait prisonnier lors de la 2ème bataille de Kut-el-Amara le 23 février 1917 sur le front de Bagdad par les forces anglo-indiennes.
Il rejoind les forces nationales de Mustafa Kemal durant la guerre d'indépendance turque (de 1919 à 1922). Il quitte l'armée comme sergent chef.
Véritable héros national, il vit aujourd'hui à Eskisehir en Turquie. A ce jour, il est un des 14 derniers vétérans au monde à avoir connu les combats de la Première Guerre mondiale. 
[Rédigé le 25 juillet 2007 par Frédéric Mathieu] 
Now, I realize that cases like this carry with them the suspicion of a Tour de France drugs-cheat...old men claiming to be war vets or extreme ages is quite common, and to 'emerge' at this point is also a bit suspicious. 
However, given Frederic Mathieu's track record (even organizing the meeting between Henry Allingham and Robert Meier) and the fact we have a non-Turkish source, I say we should give the benefit of the doubt, for now, and add Mr. Satar to the page. Note we see not just a birthdate but dates of service, which begin in 1917, making an assertion of actual WWI service.Ryoung122 01:43, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: He was taken prisoner in 1917 though - the timings become tighter but you are right, far from impossible. More likely than not 5 years in a press article is referring to either a 5 year sentence, commuted, or a 4.5 years served that they just rounded-up. RichyBoy 23:11, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Turkish WWI vet discovered!?

message: Greetings,
Another news article appears to say that Yakup is '111'. However, because Muslim years are only 354 days, it could be a confusion of units (although 109 'Christian' years equates to '112' Muslim years).
Perhaps more significant, there are possibly two more veterans. However, given the ages (105), they may have been veterans of the 1919-1922 'war of Independence' instead of WWI:
http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/detay.php?id=22724
Kurtuluş’un son şahitleri 
‘Ya şehit ya gazi” olma düşüncesiyle çıktılar yola. Arkadaşları savaş meydanlarında şehit düştü. Onlar ise gazi olarak evlerine döndü.
İstiklal Harbi gazilerinden geriye sadece ‘üç kahraman’ kaldı: Yakup Satar (111), Veysel Turan (105) ve Ömer Küyük (105). 
Ryoung122 05:09, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, if they were veterans of the Independence Wars, 1919-1922 - then that would qualify them as World War I era Vets, given the connection between World War I and the Turkish War of Independence - so they should still be added, albeit in the 'supplementary' section, should they not? 58.160.125.76 12:14, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

text: Indeed so: his name is Alec Campbell. Extremely sexy 04:00, 30 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Two More Turkish Veterans?

message: Greetings,
I questioned the downgrading of this article by 'Errabee':
[edit] Assessment of 'Surviving Veterans' Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Surviving_veterans_of_World_War_I
Greetings,
Please explain your downgrading of this article's rating. I do not believe that the "B" class description is the most accurate, and it should be upgraded or at least undergo 'peer review.'
Ryoung122 01:49, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: My own take on that issue will be on the AfD, but in any event, I'm not sure how this talk page is an appropriate venue for discussing it.    RGTraynor  19:20, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Personal Vendettas on Wikipedia?

message: His book was released on hardback yesterday and my copy has duly arrived, The Last Fighting Tommy  published by Bloomsbury. I've only read the introduction so far, but it mentions there are around 8,000 centurians living in Great Britain, compared to 102 in 1911, according to the Office of National Statistics. The book also mentions he is the 2nd oldest man in the UK. Just for info, as we're all interested in that kind of thing. RichyBoy 11:24, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Harry Patch info

message: It is very good to have discovered Turkish WW1 vets (if they prove authentic). A total of 2,850,000 Ottoman military personnel served in that war; of which 325,000 died, leaving 2,525,000 surviving the Ottoman surrender of Oct. 30th, 1918. I haven't seen statistics as to how many Turks died in the next 4 years of war until 1922. But if one would use the 2,525,000 figure as a survivor baseline, assume an 1892 average birth year for them (since the Ottomans entered the war in Nov. 1914), and give the odds against a Turkish or Arab man (since the O.E. included Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine) living to age 100 as 1,000 to 1 then about 2,500 would still have been alive in 1992. Assuming a 50% yearly death rate after that would lead to 1/128 th of that number still alive in 1999, or about 20. Just call it a couple dozen to make it simple. And these are probably conservative estimates, considering that after 1922 Turkey had very little external military action and a repressive government to maintain internal stability under Kemal Ataturk and his successors.JeepAssembler 00:48, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Yakup Satar and Maybe Two More! 

message: With Aarne Armas Arvonen due to reach his 110th birthday today, the number of supercentenarians on these lists will total 25; no doubt with more to come. As an example, it seems that Frank Buckles is healthier at 106 1/2 than Russell Coffey was at that age. No doubt also that some World War 1 Veterans who lived to age 110 or longer are not on the lists, since many participants in that conflict were born in the middle 1880's and would not have still been alive in 1999. Looking ahead to say, the year 2037; and considering the even larger baseline of WW2 survivors (About 85,000,000 total WW2 military personnel were still alive on September 2nd, 1945 versus just over 50,000,000 total WW1 military personnel still alive on November 11th, 1918)and the fact that most countries life expectancies (And therefore probably incidence of longevity) probably increased between the 1890's and 1920's; does anyone seriously doubt that at least 100 WW2 vets will reach SuperCentenarian status. Barring nuclear war, giant meteor impact, or some other global cataclysm of course.JeepAssembler 16:54, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  25 SuperCentenarians and Counting. 

message: Image:Mr. COFFEY.JPG
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[edit] Summary
This is a picture of myself with J. Russell Coffey taken at his nursing home on June 29th, 2006. It should be in the discussion page for Surviving Veterans of World War 1.JeepAssembler 14:17, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Picture of JeepAssembler with J. Russell Coffey 

message: As most of these comments have been inactive for a while I've pushed them out into the archive. If somebody feels that a point should remain current then feel free to hook it back out from the archive. I've also changed the template to what is (now) the standard archive template for wiki. AndI've added the proper mutli-old-afd template as well. RichyBoy 15:55, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I like the new look, much more navigable. Your hard work is much appreciated. Canadian Paul 17:28, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes: great job. Extremely sexy 14:24, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Archive and general tidying-up 

message: I've spent some time creating a new page called Last_veterans_of_World_War_I which I've been meaning to start for quite a while now. I would think that it is the long-term successor to this page in some shape or form. It needs a lot more work yet and some may wonder as to why I've used tables for what are one-line entries - that's because in the fullness of time the article would be expanded to capture an entry for the last soldier of a particular force, for instance. However, I noticed after I started that somebody else (Captain Celery) has also started a similar list Last_World_War_I_veteran_by_country. I've also spent some time reading through various wiki portals, I'm quite likely to put enough time in to get this article properly rated and so forth. RichyBoy 01:45, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed: I agree. Extremely sexy 14:25, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

text: I agree -- Rehnn83 Talk 16:50, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Creation of a new page 

message: I've spent some time today polishing up Henry Allingham's article. Some more work is still required here, I have however added a photograph of him which although not free-use we should be able to keep under fair-use (photographed wearing all 4 medals which he doesn't normally do), I've added to the info box, I've expanded on a number of points and added a section on war medals as well as starting to reference things up properly. As a matter of note it's probably worth including a medal section on the vets pages as we tidy up as it adds a bit more substance. RichyBoy 14:30, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Polished Henry Allingham's biography

message: I know he has been discussed in the past (I re-read the arguments in the archives) but as I've just signed up for a trial account on ancestry.com I've decided to look him up (as he was recently pointed out as not having a citation). 
He is clearly listed in "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918" and he was drafted on September 12th 1918, which makes him officially part of the third and final draft. I've taken a screen-shot of the record if anyone is interested; leave your email address on my talk page and I'll mail you a copy (I'll remove your address from the talk page afterwards no fear).
Enlisting oneself doesn't mean he immediately went on to serve in the military and I suppose from his own words he didn't start with the army until after the Armistice, well maybe I will find his military record as well to finalise the point. Anyway, it is still important to note he signed up in the third draft. RichyBoy 12:48, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Orin Peterson 

message: I've come across the attached death notice  for one M'Lthiria Mukaria who served in the 33rd (Kenya) King's African Rifles in WWI, and died in May 2007 aged 114(!).  The source is the King's African Rifles Regimental Association website which gives the claim some credence but it is otherwise unsubstantiated.
I've created an 'Unverified Veteran Claims' section on the 'Died in 2007' page for for Mukaria for the time being.  Perhaps others with more time could reseach further. 86.129.80.101 22:46, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry, but this is a longevity claim. Extremely sexy 22:50, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Maybe so, but as you know an inflated age declaration doesn't necessarily invalidate the claimant's status as a WWI veteran.  I've emailed the KAR Regimental Association asking for more information and will report back as and when details are received.86.129.80.101 23:08, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Lovely: keep us posted, but this is the talkpage for surviving veterans, and not for the ones who died in 2007. Extremely sexy 23:32, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Last African veteran?