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CLAUDE Choules never liked war and was at pains to play down his status as the world's last known World War I combat veteran.
With his death yesterday at the age of 110 in a Perth nursing home, the last living link to the millions of soldiers who served on active duty in the Great War has quietly disappeared. The British-born Mr Choules's son, Adrian Choules, yesterday described his father as an ordinary man who witnessed extraordinary events.
"He is a celebrity by accident," he said.
"He was the last man standing."
Julia Gillard said that, as the last man known to have served in both world wars, Mr Choules's passing marked the end of a significant chapter in world history. "Mr Choules and his generation made a sacrifice for our freedom and liberty we will never forget," the Prime Minister said.
There were few who had such a service record or experienced history as he did. Mr Choules was born in 1901 at Wyre Piddle in the county of Worcestershire, and Adrian Choules said his father would recall when the first motor car drove into the village. "It had a bloke trotting along in front of it with a red flag," he said.
"And the local policeman came around on his bike and told the farmers the day before this thing was coming that they better move their cows back from the fences."
Mr Choules followed his two brothers into military service and signed up with the Royal Navy in 1916 as a 14-year-old.
He was on hand when the German fleet surrendered, 10 days after the Armistice, in 1918.
He was then sent to guard 74 German warships at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands off Scotland, until the German commander gave the order to scuttle his fleet to prevent the ships falling into British hands.
In 1926, Mr Choules was seconded as an instructor to the Royal Australian Navy. It was on that sea voyage he spotted his future wife, 21-year-old Ethel Wildgoose. They were married for 76 years until her death in 2003, aged 98.
During World War II, Mr Choules was the RAN's chief demolition officer responsible for Australia's western side. As the Japanese approached in 1942, he had explosives placed next to oil storage tanks in Fremantle harbour in case of invasion, and depth charges put under ships. He defused the first mine to wash ashore, at Esperance on WA's south coast.
Mr Choules described his long service in the navy as "his life", but he never liked war and said it was useless. He would tell his children war was a mixture of long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of extreme danger.
After leaving the navy, he worked as a cray fisherman off the Fremantle coast for 10 years.
Mr Choules said it was his family that sustained him through his long life.
Adrian Choules said his father had "quietly moved on" at 5am yesterday at the Gracewood Hostel in Perty.
Captain Brett Wolski, the commanding officer of HMAS Stirling, said Mr Choules's navy career spanned some of the most significant events in 20th-century maritime history. "Longevity has put him in a place where we should honour him greatly," Captain Wolski said.
Mr Choules's funeral is expected to take place at St John's Church in Fremantle.
British woman Florence Green is the only known other surviving veteran of WWI, but did not serve as a combatant.
The Australian Defence Force said Mr Choules became the last surviving WWI serviceman following the death earlier this year of American Frank Buckles.
With his death yesterday at the age of 110 in a Perth nursing home, the last living link to the millions of soldiers who served on active duty in the Great War has quietly disappeared. The British-born Mr Choules's son, Adrian Choules, yesterday described his father as an ordinary man who witnessed extraordinary events.
"He is a celebrity by accident," he said.
"He was the last man standing."
Julia Gillard said that, as the last man known to have served in both world wars, Mr Choules's passing marked the end of a significant chapter in world history. "Mr Choules and his generation made a sacrifice for our freedom and liberty we will never forget," the Prime Minister said.
There were few who had such a service record or experienced history as he did. Mr Choules was born in 1901 at Wyre Piddle in the county of Worcestershire, and Adrian Choules said his father would recall when the first motor car drove into the village. "It had a bloke trotting along in front of it with a red flag," he said.
"And the local policeman came around on his bike and told the farmers the day before this thing was coming that they better move their cows back from the fences."
Mr Choules followed his two brothers into military service and signed up with the Royal Navy in 1916 as a 14-year-old.
He was on hand when the German fleet surrendered, 10 days after the Armistice, in 1918.
He was then sent to guard 74 German warships at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands off Scotland, until the German commander gave the order to scuttle his fleet to prevent the ships falling into British hands.
In 1926, Mr Choules was seconded as an instructor to the Royal Australian Navy. It was on that sea voyage he spotted his future wife, 21-year-old Ethel Wildgoose. They were married for 76 years until her death in 2003, aged 98.
During World War II, Mr Choules was the RAN's chief demolition officer responsible for Australia's western side. As the Japanese approached in 1942, he had explosives placed next to oil storage tanks in Fremantle harbour in case of invasion, and depth charges put under ships. He defused the first mine to wash ashore, at Esperance on WA's south coast.
Mr Choules described his long service in the navy as "his life", but he never liked war and said it was useless. He would tell his children war was a mixture of long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of extreme danger.
After leaving the navy, he worked as a cray fisherman off the Fremantle coast for 10 years.
Mr Choules said it was his family that sustained him through his long life.
Adrian Choules said his father had "quietly moved on" at 5am yesterday at the Gracewood Hostel in Perty.
Captain Brett Wolski, the commanding officer of HMAS Stirling, said Mr Choules's navy career spanned some of the most significant events in 20th-century maritime history. "Longevity has put him in a place where we should honour him greatly," Captain Wolski said.
Mr Choules's funeral is expected to take place at St John's Church in Fremantle.
British woman Florence Green is the only known other surviving veteran of WWI, but did not serve as a combatant.
The Australian Defence Force said Mr Choules became the last surviving WWI serviceman following the death earlier this year of American Frank Buckles.
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