Claude Choules
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
| Claude Choules | |
|---|---|
| Born March 3, 1901 | |
 |
|
| Place of birth |  Pershore, Worcestershire, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom Australia |
| Service/branch | Royal Navy Royal Australian Navy |
| Years of service | 1916 – 1956 |
| Rank | Acting Torpedo Officer, Fremantle Chief Demolition Officer |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Claude Stanley Choules (born March 3, 1901) is, at age 107, the youngest known WWI veteran living, one of the last surviving U.K. veterans of the First World War and one of the two remaining British veterans who emigrated to Australia.
Born in Pershore, Worcestershire, Choules joined the Royal Navy as a young man in 1916, and served aboard the Naval Training Ship HMS Impregnable situated at Devonport dockyard. In 1917, he joined the battleship HMS Revenge, which was the flagship of the First Battle Squadron. While serving aboard her, Choules witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy at the Firth of Forth in 1918, ten days after the Armistice, and was also to witness the scuttling of the fleet at Scapa Flow.[1]
In 1926, along with eleven other Royal Navy senior sailors, he came to Australia on loan as an instructor at Flinders Naval Depot. Choules decided to transfer permanently to the Royal Australian Navy after sampling and agreeing with the Australian way of life. He took his discharge from the RAN in 1931, but remained in the reserves and rejoined the RAN in 1932 as a CPO Torpedo and Anti Submarine Instructor.[2]
During the Second World War, Choules was the Acting Torpedo Officer of Fremantle and also 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 remained in the RAN after WWII 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 50 years, while personnel could serve until 55 years old in the NDP. [3][4]
He currently lives in Perth, Western Australia.
[edit] References
- ^ Booth, Gary. 500 km by bike to demolish Albany. Navy News. Archived from the original on 2008-02-03. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
- ^ WWI survivor celebrates his 107th birthday. ABC Perth. Archived from the original on 2008-03-04. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
- ^ Batcheler, Alison (2008-02-03). At 106, the secret to long life is: Don’t die. WA News. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
- ^ A lesson in Longevity. The Baptist Advocate. Archived from the original on 2008-02-03. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
