CHOULES, Claude Stanley
| Service Number: | 1379 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 February 1926 |
| Last Rank: | Petty Officer |
| Last Unit: | HMAS Leeuwin |
| Born: | Pershore, Worcestershire, England, 3 March 1901 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Sailor |
| Died: | Extreme old age - 110 years of age, Salter Point, Perth, WA, 5 May 2011, aged 110 years |
| Cemetery: |
Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia Claude Choules was the last surviving male veteran of World War I |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 12 Feb 1926: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Petty Officer, 1379 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Mar 1956: | Discharged Royal Australian Navy, Petty Officer, 1379 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Chief Petty Officer, HMAS Leeuwin |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From In Memory Of
In Memory Of Claude Stanley Choules (3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011).
He was an English-born military serviceman from Perth, Western Australia, who at the time of his death was the oldest combat veteran of WW1 who saw active service, having served with the Royal Navy from 1915 until 1926.
After having emigrated to Australia he served with the Royal Australian Navy, from 1926 until 1956, as a Chief Petty Officer and was a naturalised Australian citizen.
In December 2011, the landing ship HMAS Choules was named after him, only the second Royal Australian Navy vessel named after a sailor.
Claude 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 he was too young. His 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.
On 20 October 1917, Claude joined the battleship Revenge, which was the flagship of the First Battle Squadron and stationed at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. While serving aboard it, he 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, Claude travelled to Australia on loan as an instructor at Flinders Naval Depot. Claude decided to transfer permanently to the Royal Australian Navy after sampling and agreeing with the Australian way of life.
During WW2 Claude 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. He was also responsible for dealing with the first German mine to wash up on Australian soil during the war, near Esperance, Western Australia.
Claude and his wife Ethel were married for 76 years, until her death at age 98. He died on 5 May 2011, aged 110. He was survived by three children, 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. He was given a naval funeral in Fremantle, Western Australia on 20 May 2011.
Information and photograph came from Wikipedia.
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