History's last living link with the battlefields of World War I has been broken with the death of 110-year-old digger Claude Choules.
Mr Choules, who celebrated his 110th birthday in March, was believed to be the world's last surviving WWI combat veteran.
His daughter Daphne Edinger confirmed Mr Choules - nicknamed ''Chuckles'' by comrades - died in his Perth nursing home last night.
Joined up ... the young Claude Choules all those years ago.
Mr Choules was declared the last known male survivor of more than 70 million military personnel during WWI, after American veteran Frank Buckles passed away earlier this year, also aged 110.
The only other surviving WWI veteran is believed to be Britain's Florence Green, who served with the Royal Air Force in a non-combat role and is now aged 110.
Son Adrian Choules said this morning that he had been overwhelmed with phone calls offering condolences. But he said it was not a time to mourn but to celebrate his father's life and the memories of the good times they shared.
Decorated soldier ... Claude Choules never sought the spotlight.
With three children, 13 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren, Mr Choules has left behind a dedicated family, full of rich and loving memories.
"He treated his family very, very well, and so they all responded by looking after him very well," Adrian said.
"He knew you only get out what you put in, and he was a fine example of that. He was a good family man.
"He's certainly going to leave a gap in our family; his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will all remember him very fondly."
Adrian Choules said his father did not speak highly of war, and he was renowned for flouting Anzac Day parades. As the years passed, Mr Choules refused to be interviewed, and shunned the very thing that made him who he was – the great wars.
"He always said that the old men make the decisions that send the young men into war," Adrian said.
"He used to say, if it was the other way around, and the old pollies were off fighting, then there would never be any wars."
Decorated service career
Born in England in 1901, Mr Choules served with Britain's Royal Navy onboard the HMS Impregnable in 1916 at the age of 15.
He joined the battleship HMS Revenge in 1917 and witnessed the surrender of the German Fleet near Firth of Forth in Scotland in 1918.
Mr Choules moved to Fremantle where he was seconded to the Royal Australian Navy in 1926.
He was a commissioning crew member of the HMAS Canberra and served with the vessel until 1931 when he discharged from the RAN before rejoining as a torpedo and anti-submarine instructor in 1932.
As the acting torpedo officer at Fremantle in WWII, Mr Choules disposed of the first German mine to wash up on Australian soil during WWII, near Esperance on WA's south coast.
He was also tasked with destroying harbour and oil storage tanks at the Fremantle port in case of a Japanese invasion.
Mr Choules remained in the RAN after WWII, spending his final working years at the Naval Dockyard Police and joining the crayfishing industry at Safety Bay, south of Perth.
Australia's oldest man
At 107, he was told by his doctors that he wouldn't see out his next birthday. He defied those odds when he became a super-centenarian, and Australia's oldest man, in March this year.
"He stretches back into Australian history; the past 110 years are probably the most significant for the history of the country, and he was here for all of that," Adrian Choules said.
"Through his service, he developed the two important parts of his personality there, his loyalty and his conscientiousness.
"His loyalty to the people that were employing him, the British Government and then the Royal Australian Navy, and he was very loyal to his family as well.
"There was only was way to survive all that he did, and that was to be conscientious and very careful, and by not taking any risks."
Commemorating his life
On behalf of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Crane, Chief of Navy expressed his condolences to the Choules family at the passing of Claude Choules.
Captain Brett Wolski, Commanding Officer HMAS Stirling, said that the loss of Claude Choules to the wider Navy family was considerable.
"Our thoughts are with Claude's family at this sad time," he said.
"Claude served in the Royal Navy during WWI and then with the Royal Australian Navy in WWII. His career has spanned some of the most significant events in maritime history this century."
Adrian Choules said the family was overwhelmed with the tributes flowing in for his father, and said he had been reflecting on some of their good times with his family.
"He was a keen crayfisherman; my kids have wonderful memories of playing around in little boats with him down near Safety Bay," he said.
"That was a great part of their growing up.
"He always valued education; my two sisters both went to university at a time when there were plenty of parents who said, 'Why bother educating women when they're only going to be someone's wife'.
"These sorts of values will be remembered. The things that he did for his family, he put them first.
"Yesterday he was a celebrity, he was the oldest man in Australia. Today, someone else is that man."
Dennis Connelly, editor of The Listening Post, the official journal of the Returned Services League of Australia said it is a sad day for the country.
"He did lead a very full life," Mr Connelly said.
"He has had quite a life; it is quite the story to tell, and somebody should be telling that story.
"I remember I tried to interview him once, and his daughter actually told me that there was already enough information out there, there was nothing to add to it.
"He was a recluse in the later years of his life."
Mr Connelly said he expected crowds in the hundreds to turn out to pay their respects to Mr Choules on what will be "a very big occasion for the last World War I vet".
Mr Choules released his autobiography in 2009 titled The Last of the Last, depicting his childhood and move to Australia, as well as his times at war.
Mr Choules, who was blind and almost completely deaf, hated war and only marched in Anzac Day parades when he was ordered to, his son said.
He and his wife, who passed away at the age of 98, had two daughters and a son. Mr Choules also had 13 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
The funeral and service for Mr Choules would be arranged by the Royal Australian Navy which has volunteered host the event. It will be held at St John's Church in Fremantle, but a date has not yet been set.
- with Liam Phillips, AP, AA
............Personally I hope that we NEVER forget the service of this brave man, and the thousands like him who have served the cause of freedom and peace on our behalf...........May HaShem Bless and Keep Them and Their Families...........
Shalom
Damien
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