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  • France's oldest WW1 veteran dies

    One of the last two surviving French World War I veterans has died aged 110.
    Louis de Cazenave, who fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, died in his sleep at his home in Brioude, central France, his son, Louis, said.

    Mr de Cazenave's death means the last French WWI veteran is now Lazare Ponticelli, also aged 110.

    President Nicolas Sarkozy sent the "nation's condolences" to Mr de Cazenave's family and paid tribute to all those who were killed in the war.

    Mr de Cazenave, born on 16 October 1897 signed up in 1916 and served with a number of different infantry and artillery regiments, including the fifth Senegalese battalion.

    After the end of the war he returned to civilian life and became a railwayman. He married and had three sons before retiring at the age of 41.

    "He died as he wanted to, at home," his son said. "He had stopped speaking yesterday, he had a peaceful death. He didn't suffer at all."

    Mr de Cazenave will be buried on Tuesday in a simple ceremony in Brioude.

    Mr Sarkozy said his death was an occasion "for all of us to think of the 1.4m French who sacrificed their lives during this conflict, for the 4.5m wounded, for the 8.5m mobilised".

    "This generation has only one remaining representative today," he said in a statement.

    Story from BBC NEWS:
    BBC, News, BBC News, news online, world, uk, international, foreign, british, online, service


    Published: 2008/01/20 16:38:43 GMT

    © BBC MMVIII
    "The dolphins were monkeys that didn't like the land, walked back to the water, went back from the sand."

  • #2
    who is or was irelands oldest world war 1 survivor.

    Comment


    • #3
      germanys last ww1 veteren died at the start of the year , unmarked by the german press or establishment ,,
      "take a look to the sky right before you die, its the last time you will"

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi there
        I'd imagine, when the bould Louis rocks up into the afterlife, his old mates will slag him for taking so long and rob his smokes when his back is turned.His Sergeant will put his name on the Pearly Gates for being absent without leave and arrange a few spud-peeling sessions.His Lieutenant will put him on a charge for having fag-ash on his slippers and having a rusty Zimmer frame on parade..
        regards
        GttC

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by greyfox View Post
          germanys last ww1 veteren died at the start of the year , unmarked by the german press or establishment ,,
          Have a read of this

          Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
          Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
          The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere***
          The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
          The best lack all conviction, while the worst
          Are full of passionate intensity.

          Comment


          • #6
            only 20 odd left world wide ,,, from army's of millions time marches on sad to think of the millions who never got beyond there teens or twenty's , RIP .
            "take a look to the sky right before you die, its the last time you will"

            Comment


            • #7
              "He married and had three sons before retiring at the age of 41." - he was retired for 69 years.
              Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

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              • #8
                after fight ing in the trenches he should have been retired in 1918 and given as much wine women and song as he wanted, the French could hardly complain about paying his pension or the millions like him ,,,
                "take a look to the sky right before you die, its the last time you will"

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                • #9
                  yeah right there !

                  does anyone know who was the last Irishman to die that served in the great war?

                  or was he forgotten or had to hide his past for fear of his life!!!
                  Q S

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                  • #10
                    sorry just seen other post about the subject
                    Q S

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      PARIS:

                      Mon. Lazare Ponticelli.

                      France's last veteran of World War I, has died today Wednesday March 12th 2007.

                      He was 110.

                      French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed "deep emotion and sadness" at Ponticelli's death, which Sarkozy's office announced in a statement Wednesday. No cause or details of his death were given.

                      France planned a national funeral ceremony honoring its last "poilu" — the term meaning: hairy or tough, and given to those who fought in the Great War, as World War I is called here.

                      The 1914-1918 conflict tore Europe apart.

                      Only a handful of World War I veterans are still living, scattered from Australia to the United States and Europe.

                      Germany's last veteran from the conflict died on New Year's Day.

                      Ponticelli was born Dec. 7, 1897, in Bettola, a town in the foothills of the Apennines in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy.

                      To escape a tough childhood, Ponticelli trooped off alone at age 9 to the nearest railway station, 34 kilometers (21 miles) away in Piacenza, where he took a train to rejoin his brothers in France, eventually becoming a French citizen, according to the veterans' office in the Yvelines region west of Paris.

                      In the French capital, where he was when the war broke out, he worked as a chimney sweep and then as a newspaper boy.

                      Ponticelli decided to fight for France, because it had taken him in. He joined the Foreign Legion.

                      "It was my way of saying 'Thank you," he said in a 2005 interview with the daily Le Monde and officials from France's veterans' office.

                      May He

                      + Rest In Peace +

                      Reunited With His Comrades At Last.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Rip
                        "take a look to the sky right before you die, its the last time you will"

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          See also the last still surviving US combatant from WWI Frank Woodruff Buckles 107 years of age.

                          Frank Woodruff Buckles was just 15 years old when he joined the U.S. Army. Soon, he was deployed to war and headed overseas on the Carpathia -- the same ship used in the rescue mission of the Titanic.

                          "When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."


                          Marcus Aurelius Roman Emperor (161 to 180 A.D.)

                          Comment


                          • #14


                            Lazare Ponticelli

                            RIP
                            You will never have a quiet world until you knock the patriotism out of the human race

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Just visible on Mon. Lazare Ponticelli's jacket, are two miniature medals,

                              The Inter-Allied Victory Medal of France.

                              and.

                              La Medaille Blesse / The French Wound Medal.

                              It would not surprise me if there is not at least a Legion of Honour,

                              and

                              A Croix de Guerre,

                              under the collar of the jacket.

                              Connaught Stranger

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