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World War II Veterans

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1 minute ago, Ulitzer95 said:


Hmm... misleading heading.

If you read the end of the article, it explains that there are still two alive, both 100+, but they emigrated to North America.

It certainly could be interpreted in different ways, but the way it was written does seem to suggest something it's not.

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14 hours ago, alt obits guy said:

 

14 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:


Hmm... misleading heading.

If you read the end of the article, it explains that there are still two alive, both 100+, but they emigrated to North America.

According to the BBC, she was one of the last three , one of whom is American, Nancy Stratford and the other survivor being British born Vancouver resident Jaye Edwards.

 

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The oldest living US Marine, isn't. Dorothy Schmidt Cole has died aged 107. She enlisted as a Marine reservist following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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On 13/08/2019 at 07:30, maryportfuncity said:

 

 

So, Leslie Stelfox lives in Sittingbourne, had his war medals stolen for the second time recently and - he's 106.


Were they ever able to pin it on anyone?

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The 11th Earl of Elgin who is on my DDP is also a WW2 veteran. 
 

Just mentioning it to add to his fame points...

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21 hours ago, Sir Creep said:


Were they ever able to pin it on anyone?

 

 

Actually, no - the second theft remains unsolved. 

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On 23/10/2020 at 14:19, arghton said:

Is anyone keeping track on the last medal recipients of WWII?

I've found a couple of medals where there are only one or two left of the ones who recieved it (or of the ones who recieved it during wwII)

 

 

Medal of Honour (United States, awarded 473 times):

 

Charles H. Coolidge, Technical Sergeant, 99

Hershel W. Williams, Chief warrant officer 4, 97

 

 

Victoria Cross (United Kingdom, awarded 182 times):

 

John Cruickshank, Flight Lieutenant, 100

 

 

Mannerheim Cross (Finland, awarded 197 times):

 

Tuomas Gerdt, Sergeant, 98 DEAD

 

 

Military Order of William (Netherlands, awarded ? times):

 

Kenneth Mayhew, Major, 103

Any others I should add to this list?

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29 minutes ago, arghton said:

Any others I should add to this list?


Depends how far down the medal table you wish to go. There must be several dozen MCs from WWII still living in the U.K. I listed a couple of notable ones in the 100 Club thread yesterday. I’m not sure where you’d find a full list of them online though. Every one of them will be guaranteed a Telegraph obituary though.

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Last Malaysian survivor of Pasir Panjang Battle (wiki), Ujang Mormin, dead of COVID-19 at 100.

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Not exactly a veteran, but Nuremberg RuSHA trial testifier and survivor of the Lidice Massacre Marie Šupíková has died at 88 from COVID complications:

https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/zemrela-marie-supikova-jako-dite-prezila-vyhlazeni-lidic/2011956

Lidice Massacre was the complete destruction of the village of Lidice by the nazis in 1942. All men were killed.

She was one of the last living survivors of the massacre. Other survivors are mentioned on this and this page. The alive adult survivors are Božena Vodrážková (born 1923), Ruth Mittelmann (born 1925) and survivors who were children at the time of the massacre include Věra Čepelová, roz. Vokatá (born 1935), Václav Zelenka (born 1937) and Eva Kubíková - Bullock (born 1937).

Veronika (Věra) Rýmonová, Jiří Pitín and Pavel Horešovský (all born 1942) were only a few months old.

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The remains of a Kentucky sailor killed during the Pearl Harbor attack nearly 80 years ago have been identified, officials said.

Navy Seaman 2nd Class Howard S. Magers, 18, was accounted for on Dec. 17, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced..

SC

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On 23/10/2020 at 12:19, arghton said:

Is anyone keeping track on the last medal recipients of WWII?

I've found a couple of medals where there are only one or two left of the ones who recieved it (or of the ones who recieved it during wwII)

 

 

Medal of Honour (United States, awarded 473 times):

 

Charles H. Coolidge, Technical Sergeant, 99

Hershel W. Williams, Chief warrant officer 4, 97

 

 

Victoria Cross (United Kingdom, awarded 182 times):

 

John Cruickshank, Flight Lieutenant, 100

 

 

Mannerheim Cross (Finland, awarded 197 times):

 

Tuomas Gerdt, Sergeant, 98 DEAD

 

 

Military Order of William (Netherlands, awarded ? times):

 

Kenneth Mayhew, Major, 103


Charles H. Coolidge dead at 99.

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I was wondering how many recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross are alive or could be alive...

What I found:

 

 

WIKIPEDIA: Hugo Broch (born 1922) Luftwaffe ace. Still looked great at 95. Most likely won't die off radar.

Heinz Rafoth (born 1923) According to warrelics.eu, was alive in 2020. Celebrated 100th in 2023.

 

Ones that have died since January 2020:

Jakob Kuchar (1923-2020) Mentioned alive in 2020, but I can't find any other source confirming this Died on 1st of January 2020.

Paul-Georg Kleffel (1920-2020) Died on 19th of February 2020.

Ludwig Bauer (1923-2020) Died on 20th of May 2020.

WIKIPEDIA: Karl-Günther von Hase (1917-2021) German Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1970-1977. Died on 9th of May 2021.

Gerhard Zoppoth (1923-2021) Mentioned alive by warrelics eu in 2020. Died on 13th of September 2021.

Johann Hans Trummer (1920-2022) According to the same site, was alive in 2020. Died on the 1st of March 2022.

Helmut Wieselhuber (1922-2022) Once rumored to have died in 2007. Mentioned alive by the axishistory forum in 2010 and by warrelics.eu in 2020. Died on the 20th of May 2022.

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Bill Wynne (wiki) dead at 99 according to a Facebook post from his son, Bob.

American photojournalist, author and decorated WWII veteran who most famously trained Smoky the Dog (1943–1957, wiki), a Yorkshire terrier who served in the war.

https://www.facebook.com/bob.wynne.752/posts/10222311420487381 ...still won't let us embed FB... *sigh*...

... here's a picture of Smoky instead...

Smoky_(dog)_in_helmet.jpg.9dc1c1e0b1a1ab51bc7f535666c9bd22.jpg

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On 20/04/2021 at 17:51, Ulitzer95 said:

Bill Wynne (wiki) dead at 99 according to a Facebook post from his son, Bob.

American photojournalist, author and decorated WWII veteran who most famously trained Smoky the Dog (1943–1957, wiki), a Yorkshire terrier who served in the war.

https://www.facebook.com/bob.wynne.752/posts/10222311420487381 ...still won't let us embed FB... *sigh*...

... here's a picture of Smoky instead...

Smoky_(dog)_in_helmet.jpg.9dc1c1e0b1a1ab51bc7f535666c9bd22.jpg


Family obit here. News coverage to follow no doubt.

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Edit: Old obit which I mistook as new.

 

Silly me.

 

Ignore.

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Current WWII "lasts" and detailed mentions of what they are the last of:

 

John Hemingway (b. 1919) Last surviving airman of the Battle of Britain, 1940 (The Few). 3000 were awarded the "Battle of Britain" clasp.

Traute Lafrenz (b. 1919) Last surviving member of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi group. There were atleast 25 members.

Aliza Melamed Vitis-Shomron (b. 1928) Last Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) participant. 56065 were killed or captured.

Emanuele Di Porto (b. 1931) Last survivor of the Raid of the Ghetto of Rome, 1943. 1259 people were detained, 16 survived.

Robert Hébras (b. 1925) Last survivor of Oradour-sur-Glane massacre, 1944. 642 of the 652 inhabitants of the town died, 10 survived.

Teruo Murakami (b. 1920/1921) Last participant of the Cowra breakout, 1944, when 1104 Japanese POWs attempted to escape a prison camp. Around 545 escaped, 235 died.

William "Bill" Leibold (b. 1923?) Last survivor of the sinking of submarine USS Tang. Nine survived out of the crew of 87.

Luciano "Louis" C. Graziano (b. 1922/1923) Last witness of the German Surrender ceremony.

Galina Brock-Beltsova (b. 1924/1925) Last pilot of the Night Witches, (588th Night Bomber Regiment) an all-female bomber regiment. 261 people served in the regiment, 32 died in WWII.

Edward Shames (1922-2021) Last officer of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion ("Screaming Eagles") in WWII.

Hubert Germain (1920-2021) Last surviving Companion of the Order of Liberation. 1038 people were awarded this, 270 posthumously.

George "Johnny" Johnson (b. 1921) Last surviving member of the original 617 Squadron and last participant of the "Dambusters" raid (Operation Chastise) of 1943. 80 of the 133 dambusters survived Operation Chastise.

John Cruickshank (b. 1920) Last WWII Victoria Cross recipient. Awarded 182 times to 181 recipients during WWII.

Kenneth Mayhew (1917-2021) Last WWII Military Order of William knight out of the around 190 awarded.

Hershel W. WIlliams (b. 1923) Last WWII Medal of Honour recipient. 464 were awarded, 266 posthumously.

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42 minutes ago, arghton said:

Current WWII "lasts" and detailed mentions of what they are the last of:

 

John Hemingway (b. 1919) Last surviving airman of the Battle of Britain, 1940 (The Few). 3000 were awarded the "Battle of Britain" clasp.

Traute Lafrenz (b. 1919) Last surviving member of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi group. There were atleast 25 members.

Aliza Melamed Vitis-Shomron (b. 1928) Last Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) participant. 56065 were killed or captured.

Emanuele Di Porto (b. 1931) Last survivor of the Raid of the Ghetto of Rome, 1943. 1259 people were detained, 16 survived.

Robert Hébras (b. 1925) Last survivor of Oradour-sur-Glane massacre, 1944. 642 of the 652 inhabitants of the town died, 10 survived.

Teruo Murakami (b. 1920/1921) Last participant of the Cowra breakout, 1944, when 1104 Japanese POWs attempted to escape a prison camp. Around 545 escaped, 235 died.

William "Bill" Leibold (b. 1923?) Last survivor of the sinking of submarine USS Tang. Nine survived out of the crew of 87.

Luciano "Louis" C. Graziano (b. 1922/1923) Last witness of the German Surrender ceremony.

Galina Brock-Beltsova (b. 1924/1925) Last pilot of the Night Witches, (588th Night Bomber Regiment) an all-female bomber regiment. 261 people served in the regiment, 32 died in WWII.

Edward Shames (b. 1922) Last officer of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion ("Screaming Eagles") in WWII.

Hubert Germain (b. 1920) Last surviving Companion of the Order of Liberation. 1038 people were awarded this, 270 posthumously.

 

You forgot George "Johnny" Johnson (b. 1921) Last surviving member of 617 Squadron

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Another is John Cruickshank (b. 1920), last VC recipient from WWII.

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Medal of Honor recipient Ernest E. West dead at 89. Yes, veteran of the Korean War. Can't find the general veterans thread at the moment. 

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