Claude Choules Claude Stanley Choules ( ; 3 March 19015 May 2011 ) was the last World War I combat veteran , and was the last military witness to the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow . He was also the last veteran to have served in both world war s , and the last seaman from the First World War . At the time of his death , he was also the third oldest verified military veteran in the world and the oldest known living man in Australia . He was the seventh - oldest living man in the world . Choules became the oldest man born in the United Kingdom following the death of Stanley Lucas on 21 June 2010 . Choules died in Perth , Western Australia , at the age of 110 . He had been the oldest British - born man ; following his death , that honour went to the Reverend Reginald Dean ( 1902 – 2013 ) . In December 2011 , the landing ship was named after him , only the second Australian Navy vessel named after a sailor . Early life . Claude Choules was born in Pershore , Worcestershire , on 3 March 1901 and raised in nearby Wyre Piddle . The son of Harry and Madeline ( née Winn ) , Claude was one of seven children , although two died in early childhood . The surviving siblings were Douglas , Leslie , Phyllis , and Gwendoline . His 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 . His older sister Phyllis lived with the family of a paternal uncle , while his younger sister Gwendoline was adopted by the family of a paternal aunt . Both Claude and his older brothers went to Pershore National Boys ' School ( see national school ) , though Douglas ( born 1893 ) and Leslie ( born 1894 ) emigrated to Western Australia in 1911 . Choules was 13 at the start of World War I , and the family received letters from Douglas and Leslie who had joined the Australian Imperial Force and landed at Anzac Cove and fought during the Gallipoli Campaign . 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 too young . Naval training . Choules ' father then arranged for him to train to join the navy instead , and in April 1915 , at age 14 , he joined the nautical training ship TS " Mercury " . This training ship was moored on the River Hamble , near Southampton , Hampshire , and had a dormitory ship called HMS " President " that had previously been . The commander of the " Mercury " training site was the cricketer C . B . Fry , and Choules ' time there included trips to Netley Hospital as part of the " Mercury " ' s dancing team . The examinations taken by 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 . 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 . Military service . On 20 October 1917 , Choules joined the battleship , which was the flagship of the First Battle Squadron and stationed at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands . While serving aboard it , Choules saw action against a German zeppelin , and witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy at the Firth of Forth in 1918 , ten days after the Armistice , as well as witnessing the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow . In 1926 , along with 11 other Royal Navy senior sailors , Choules travelled to Australia on loan as an instructor at Flinders Naval Depot . He travelled in SS " Diogenes " on a 6 - 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 . Choules decided to transfer permanently to the Royal Australian Navy ( RAN ) after sampling and agreeing with the Australian way of life . In fact , he was only two days younger than the RAN , which was established on 1 March 1901 . He 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 . He never returned to England after leaving . During the Second World War , Choules was the acting Torpedo Officer at HMAS " Leeuwin " , the naval base at Fremantle , Western Australia , and also served as the Chief Demolition Officer on the western side of the Australian continent . He was tasked with sabotaging Fremantle harbours and related oil storage tanks in the event of a Japanese invasion . Choules was also responsible for dealing with the first German mine to wash up on Australian soil during the war , near Esperance , Western Australia . Choules remained in the RAN after the Second World War and transferred to the Naval Dockyard Police ( NDP ) 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 . Later life . Choules and his wife Ethel were married for 76 years , until her death at age 98 . Choules shunned celebrations of the Armistice , because he was against the glorification of war . His autobiography " The Last of the Last " was first published in Perth in 2009 , followed by an annotated edition for UK readers in 2010 . On 6 August 2009 , although almost blind and deaf , he was still mentally active and gave a television interview . In late April 2010 , Choules ' daughter Daphne Choules - Edinger reported that his health was declining and he could no longer give interviews . He celebrated his 110th birthday in March 2011 . In the final years of his life , he resided at Gracewood Hostel in Salter Point , a suburb of Perth . Claude Choules appeared in the BBC documentaries " The Last Tommy " ( 2005 ) and " Harry Patch – The Last Tommy " ( 2009 ) . After his death , Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stated " Mr Choules and his generation made a sacrifice for our freedom and liberty we will never forget " . Death and funeral . Choules died on 4 May 2011 . He was survived by 3 children , 11 grandchildren , 22 great - grandchildren and 3 great - great grandchildren . He was given a naval funeral in Fremantle , Western Australia on 20 May 2011 . Guests included the West Australian Premier Colin Barnett , state Opposition Leader Eric Ripper and federal Defence Minister Stephen Smith , who gave a reading during the service . Choules ' s son Adrian gave the eulogy . On 13 December 2011 , the former Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as . 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 ( the ship is only the second vessel named after a sailor ) , and also acknowledges the ship ' s previous service under British control ( Choules served in both the British and Australian navies during his career ) . Choules was the last surviving male veteran of World War I , and the last surviving veteran who saw active service . His death left Florence Green ( 19 February 1901 – 4 February 2012 ) as the last surviving veteran . Awards . In November 2009 , Choules became the oldest recipient of the Australian Defence Medal . ( The medal was established in 2006 to recognise members of the Australian Defence Force who have served for more than four years after 3 September 1945 ) . He was also awarded the British War Medal 1914 – 18 , the Victory Medal 1914 – 18 , the War Medal 1939 – 45 , the Australia Service Medal 1939 – 45 , the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal , the Centenary Medal and the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with Clasp .