Last Surviving British Veterans

[Essexboy68]

Hello

As many of you will know, like a lot of other Pals, I have an interest in the those veterans of WW1 who are still with us.

I have just listened to the Today programme on Radio 4, where they broadcast an "obituary" for Nicholas Swarbrick (they also said they would be doing the same as each remaining veteran passes on), & had none other than Max Arthur talk. The presenter (not Mr Arthur), stated quite authoritively that there are now only 5 British veterans left, including 2 in Australia, yet the National Archives have given the number as 11 (this figure was in the press after Mr Swarbrick's death was announced).

Have I missed something here? Do the different figures refer to those who served overseas during the conflict, as opposed to those who were serving at the time of the Armistice? I am sure one of the Pals will be able to answer this.

Thanks (as ever)

Mark

[andy 1]

hi mark

i've also announced this in chit chat along with a link to a bbc website about this veteran.

but perhaps your right putting it in soldiers.

it also looks like you had the same trouble as me,with the post appearing 3 or 4 times at exactly the same times.

remind me never to play snap with you

andy

[Guest Simon Bull]

Hello

I have just listened to the Today programme on Radio 4, where they broadcast an "obituary" for Nicholas Swarbrick (they also said they would be doing the same as each remaining veteran passes on), & had none other than Max Arthur talk. The presenter (not Mr Arthur), stated quite authoritively that there are now only 5 British veterans left, including 2 in Australia, yet the National Archives have given the number as 11 (this figure was in the press after Mr Swarbrick's death was announced).

Mark

I suspect that the distinction is that the smaller number actually served abroad and the larger number were in the forces but sufficiently late on that they did not get abroad, but that is just a guess.

[Tom Morgan]

To be honest, I don't think that anyone can say authoritatively how many British Great War veterans remain alive. Nobody recorded them. If every veteran had been awarded some kind of pension from 1920 onwards, then it would be possible to say exactly how many were still in receipt of it. But there was no reason for any registration of this kind (as there was in other countries) so no-one really knows.

Whenever we talk about "the last officer" or similar, we mean the last known officer. There may be another, real last officer alive somewhere in Britain. Or he may have died yesterday, with no-one at all knowing of his history. We will never know, for certain, who the "last man standing" really is.

Tom

[JOSTURM]

To be honest, I don't think that anyone can say authoritatively how many British Great War veterans remain alive. Nobody recorded them. If every veteran had been awarded some kind of pension from 1920 onwards, then it would be possible to say exactly how many were still in receipt of it. But there was no reason for any registration of this kind (as there was in other countries) so no-one really knows.

Whenever we talk about "the last officer" or similar, we mean the last known officer. There may be another, real last officer alive somewhere in Britain. Or he may have died yesterday, with no-one at all knowing of his history. We will never know, for certain, who the "last man standing" really is.

Tom

Does Her majesty have a database of all Centenarians that triggers the annual birthday card, and is this database in the public domain. Also is the information verified. I had a great great uncle whose 2nd wife claimed to be 106 at her death in 1925 but in reality was only 86, but had been getting annual pr coverage for six years in the yorkshire press. What a fibber. Getting back to the point, couldn't the men on this database be cross referenced with the army MIC's and a realistic number be identified ?

Peter

[Tom Morgan]

The sending of a 100th Birthday Card does require a bit of verification beforehand. When my Grandmother was 100 we had to send a copy of her birth certificate to somewhere as part of the Royal Birthday Card process.

This was to verify her age - which suggests that there was no database which automatically flags up the names of people who are still alive and approaching their 100th birthday. Presumably, when we had provided the birth certificate, there was a system by which the appropriate department could confirm that she was still alive and drawing her pension. But "they" appeared not to have known beforehand. The process began when the family informed the Social Services Department that my grandmother was nearly 100.

Tom