The last of those who fought the war to end all wars

Last World War I combat veteran dies at 110: Claude Stanley Choules joined the battleship HMS Revenge in 1917

Claude Stanley Choules, the last known combat veteran of World War I, died Thursday at a nursing home in the Western Australia city of Perth, his family said. He was 110.

Beloved for his wry sense of humor and humble nature, the British-born Choules — nicknamed "Chuckles" by his comrades in the Australian Navy — never liked to fuss over his achievements, which included a 41-year military career and the publication of his first book at the age of 108.

"We all loved him," his 84-year-old daughter Daphne Edinger told The Associated Press. "It's going to be sad to think of him not being here any longer, but that's the way things go."

He looks so young in his recruitment photo, but then he was just fourteen and one month old when he started training with the British Royal Navy

Chouldes was the last combat veteran of the war. One more veteran remains, Florence Green, another Briton, was a waitress in the Women's Royal Air Force. She, too, is 110 years old.

Despite the fame he achieved because of his military service, Choules grew to become a pacifist who was uncomfortable with anything that glorified war. He disagreed with the celebration of Anzac Day, Australia's most important war memorial holiday, and refused to march in parades held each year to commemorate the holiday.

"He didn't believe in war," Edinger said.

"He always said that the old men make the decisions that send the young men into war," said his son Adrian Choules.

"He used to say, if it was the other way around, and the old ... were off fighting, then there would never be any wars," Adrian Choules told local media.

He was fortunate in one way--his wife lived to 98, dying in 2003, so they spent 76 years together. His three children--all in their 70s and 80s, are still alive. He stayed in good health, not even on medication, for a long time, although he'd recently grown blind and nearly deaf. But he pretty much died of old age. His secret to living so old was simple: 'Keep breathing.' :)

His book is on Amazon indirectly, with sellers offering the new hardback at about $125. The audio book is about $20. It's called The Last of the Last: The Final Survivor of the First World War.