William Roberts

[Harbourart]

A little late in the day i'm affraid but today is William Roberts 105th birthday.

Many happy returnd Bill, hope to see you again soon.

[bradley]

this is a veteran of whom i have not heard of before,excuse me,is ther any info of his service to be had .wher does he live etcetc????.very intrigued about this....happy birthday bill !!!!

[shaymen]

Have a great day William

Some details of him

Rigger William Roberts, 105 Signed up aged 15 after his father was killed at the Somme in 1916, joining the Royal Flying Corps. Worked as an aircraft fitter and claims to have flown with TE Lawrence. Later became a local authority transport manager. Lives in Jacksdale, Notts.

Glyn

[bradley]

great stuff m8.....im just thinkin bout the other guys.....who are still going strong??? i heard recently that only 4 remain.i hope thats not the case,but if so,who may they be.anybody??.......i think henry allingham is still here

[stiletto_33853]

Have a great day William.

Andy

[Harbourart]

Have a great day William

Some details of him

Rigger William Roberts, 105 Signed up aged 15 after his father was killed at the Somme in 1916, joining the Royal Flying Corps. Worked as an aircraft fitter and claims to have flown with TE Lawrence. Later became a local authority transport manager. Lives in Jacksdale, Notts.

Glyn

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is 10 known British survivors;

Henry Allingham from Eastbourne, East Sussex, Britain's oldest known surviving veteran of the First World War, served aboard HMS Kingfisher with the Royal Naval Air Service during Battle of Jutland, then serviced and recovered planes in the Ypres and Somme Saliants and was a pioneer of modern air warfare flying. Recalls falling into a shell hole “it had rats, bodies, arms and legs in it”. He later became a car salesman.

Alfred Anderton served with 5th battalion the Black Watch at the Somme. He later worked as a City council clerk. Now lives in Alyth, Perth & Kinros.

Stephen Butcher who served with the Royal Navy, is believed still to be alive and living in the UK. Little is known about him.

Ken Cummins served with the Royal Navy and was torpedoed while aboard the Viceroy of India was rescued from a lifeboat. He later had to recover nurses’ bodies after a hospital ship was sunk. He now lives in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire.

Harold Lawton attaches to the East Yorkshire regiment at Bethune. Was captured during the German offensive of March 1918, spending the rest of the war as a POW. He later became the Dean of the arts faculty at Southampton University and lives in Rutland.

Harry Newcombe joined the Sussex Regiment in August 1918 and was still in training when the war ended. He then joined the army of occupation spending a year in Germany. Later he worked on the Great Western Railway as a dinning room attendant. He now lives in Worthing. He was only traced by WW1VA in 2003

Harry Patch conscripted to the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry. He holds he own Remembrance Day on 22nd September to mark the day in 1917 when three of his close friends where blown up in front of him. He now lives in Wells, Somerset.

William Roberts who joined the Royal Flying Corps just 15 years of age after his father was killed at the Somme in 1916. He worked as an aircraft technician and claims to have flown with TE Lawrence. Later became a local authority transport manager and now lives in Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire.

William Stone enlisted on his 18th birthday into the Royal Navy. He witnessed the scuttled German fleet at Scapa Flow. He was torpedoed twice in the Second World War and is believed to be the last to serve in both wars. He has awarded the Russian commemorative medal during WWII; He now lives in Watlington, Oxfordshire.

Colin Swarbrick lives at Grimsargh, nr Preston, Lancashire. All I know about Colin is that he was originally from Liverpool and was in Merchant Navy during WW1.

Hope this helps

[ypres1418]

Happy Belated Birthday Bill,

Mandy

[shaymen]

Peter

Thanks for posting the details of the remaining veterans - Noticed on the recent George Rice thread the figure was down to seven - could that be a figure of those who saw action ?

Anyway long may they all continue to enjoy life - It will be a very sad day when we have none left.

Glyn

[Harbourart]

Peter

Thanks for posting the details of the remaining veterans - Noticed on the recent George Rice thread the figure was down to seven - could that be a figure of those who saw action ?

Anyway long may they all continue to enjoy life - It will be a very sad day when we have none left.

Glyn

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My theory is the Telegraphs files are not up to date, many do not count Stephen Butcher as little is known about him - even if he is still alive. And Colin Swarbrick has only been traced by WW1 Vets Association within the last couple of months not sure who else they are missing but as far as I am aware there are still 10 of them.

[susanhemmings]

Very, many, happy belated wishes to Bill.

[Guest Watlington]

For further interest:- oldest to youngest

Henry Allingham 109 (Navy RNAS)

Alfred Anderton 109(Army)

Colin Swarbrick 107(Army)

Harry Patch 107 (Army)

Harold Lawton 107 (Army)

Syd Lucas 106 (Army)

Ken Cummings 105 (Navy)

Harry Newcombe 105(Army)

Bill Stone 105 (Navy)

Bill Roberts 105 (RFC)

[Harbourart]

Where did Syd Lucas come from?

Also Colin Swarbrick was in Merchant Navy not Army

[Chris_Baker]

I had the pleasure to meet William Stone again last week. I gave at talk at the Thames Valley WFA branch, and he was guest of honour just a few days after his 105th birthday. Strangely enough he was there when I last spoke at that very branch about three or four years ago.

A splendid gentleman. You would never guess at his age, for his bearing, faculties and general health seem to be that of a man of perhaps 80 at most. For medals buffs, you may be interested to know that he has the BWM but not a Victory Medal from WW1. William actually got up and sang a couple of ditties, including his favourite "All the nice girls love a sailor...". Good on him! And not for the first time, I got that oo-er feeling when speaking about his own era, expecting him at any time to leap and up completely destroy what I was saying...thankfully I was either right about my subject or he was too much of a gentleman to correct me. Or asleep.