File picture of World War One Navy Veteran Mr Claude Choules. He is sitting in the Gracewood Retirement Village loungeroom in Salter Point, Western Australia, November 10, 2009. [CFP]

Mr Claude Choules--believed to be the world's last surviving WWI combat veteran - has died. Mr Choules, who celebrated his 110th birthday in March, died at his nursing home in Salter Point, Western Australia on May 4, 2011.

Mr Choules was declared the last known survivor of the more than 70 million military personnel mobilised globally during The Great War, after American veteran Frank Buckles passed away earlier this year. Mr Choules was born in Pershore, Worcestershire, on March 3 1901, six weeks after the death of Queen Victoria.

 

Mr Choules joined the Royal Navy in 1915 at 14. He settled in Fremantle after he was seconded to the Royal Australian Navy in 1926 and is recognised as the only living veteran who served in both world wars. Nicknamed ''Chuckles'' by his fellow sailors, Mr Choules used to tell those who asked that the secret of his longevity was to ''keep breathing''.