Just a few months ago I looked at the Wikipedia page of surviving WW1 vets and there were about 5 or 6. Now there is one, a British woman who served the Royal Air Force. Amazing that I never heard on the news about any of these people but whenever some dumb celebrity dies everyone goes ape shit.
I think it would have been better if Germany would have won WW I by 1914. Think about it: Million of soldier woundn:t have died, there would never have been the Soviet Union, no Nazis, no Japanese expansion, no WW II etc.! And in fact, Germany wasn't better or worse than France or Great Britain, In Prussia women had the right to vote, something even the so very democratic Switzerland introduced in the 1970s (Kanton Appenzell). Furthermore the German social politics were the best in the world.
The German historian Fritz Fischer wrote about the causes of World War 1 and he concluded that Germany indeed held most of the blame for the war. The Prussian Military, the ideals of Bismarck were very much alive in Germany and a lot of the Germany high command was "proto-nazi". Democracy wasn't as developed in the Central Powers as in the Entente, and the Kaiser had the final say.
General Ludendorff was Hitler's earliest supporter after the war.Von Schlieffen plan in 1905..
True. The war was mostly a purely imperialistc exercise between the major European powers, and they had formed allianced several years before the war, the Central Powers first formed in 1879 with Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Entente in 1904. Everybody who had insight into politics at the time knew a major war was breaking out long before 1914, it was inevitable.
However, I still believe the Entente was the "least bad" and had better democracy than Germany and A-H.
@mrzeroten so they have an idea nowadays. does it make it any better?? The 20year old kids in the Irak know they are there in order to protect the interests of the USA/UK and thus they are the good guys. heck, it's really easy, despite all the lies! like a call of duty video game! 20 years ago young russians were told the same stories in Afghanistan.
Look, all these vets are very impressive. but as human beings, not because they were soldiers.
@hansjakobli78 Not all of the reasons that countries go to war are either positive or negative. Countries don't go to war solely for the sake of the rich. We go to war to prevent threats from growing too powerful relative to our own safety. That isn't false propaganda it's the reality of hostile threats. Ultimately we cannot say that what soldiers do is good or bad because of moral relativity. I'm a Left hand path practitioner, as long as they're aware of their true will than I'm fine with it.
@mrzeroten ok, i understand your arguments. but do you realise that it is your reality only? your point of view?your remark on safety is quite cynical if you think about vietnam for example.
yes, soldier are responsible for their actions!
an adult person should be able to reflect his decisions and decide for himself whether he/she wants to wear a uniform or not. face it - this is how you start to change things. by making decisions on your own.
@hansjakobli78 Your statement is idiotic. Of course it makes it better. It's not 'like a video game' because the soldiers are fighting for their lives. You can't play the 'might be bad people' card because these men are dying for your freedom. And yes, we do know the 'right' thing. Because bleeding heart liberals like you constantly whine about how terrorists don't get the same treatment as american citizens
Legendary. Never seen this before. Very cool to see the great Harry honor the German fallen. I always try to find out as much as I can about the German warriors in my great war reading. It didn't matter what side you were on... brave men with steel nerves, every one of them.
true courage is if you refuse to murder people for some "idea" (eg. "weapons of mass destruction") or "nation", if you decide to make the conscious and grown up decision of settling thins peacefully. it is difficult but it's the only way humanity can evolve.
that's why recruits should be no younger than let's say 28 - they wouldn't just do anything and would reflect on orders critically.
@hansjakobli78 So everyone with wisdom much beyond their years has to be subjected to arbitrary rules? You're inferring that wisdom is acquired through time. Wisdom is something that can be acquired once the mind is capable of understanding it. Yes, murder is unfortunate, but some people have chosen to be destroyers and so they must be destroyed. The military doesn't operate on a subordinate counseling basis otherwise nothing would ever get done.
@mrzeroten but who's the destroyer and who is its destroyer? Who is capable of judging impartially? How can something abstract as a "nation" be good while the other is evil? As Kurt Tucholsky put it: "Soldiers are murderers". Usually they are also victims at the same time. WW1 is a good example of how everyone becomes a victim and a murderer at the same time in times of war- Germans, French, British,etc.
Btw, i served as a soldier.
Who's the good guy in the Irak? The ones that started it?
@hansjakobli78 I had already asked myself that same question and came to a satisfactory conclusion, but I cannot summarize it and provide you with an answer with a 500 character limit.
All I can say is:
-I was referring to terrorists
-I believe in the kill 1 save a 1,000 principle
-I wasn't speaking about either side being "evil" merely that immense destroyers need to be put down for humanity's sake
-Lastly - Ideas of good & evil are over simplified
@mrzeroten look, i'm a not a very wise person and i am glad that Europe was liberated from the nazis.
i understand that terrorists must be stopped. because they murder. but it becomes tricky very quickly- what is the definition of a terrorist? Are soldiers not also terrorists? Japan started the war but the US dropped the atomic bomb on 250'000 defenseless civilians, on a non-military target.
i wish everyone a merry xmas. at one point we'll have to drop our weapons, there is no alternative.
@hansjakobli78 That is a possibility and surely something that we should all be striving for, but not in my life time or yours. I can only expect to pave the way to the fruition of such concepts. We will only ever stop the flow of massive blood shed once we have a consensus on the freedom to live our lives free from factors that provoke these drastic measures.
My friend, judging from your comment, I think you are a very wise përson indeed. Terrorists cannot be defined. Today, a terrorist is anybody fighting against, or disagreeing in whatever way against the ideals and actions by a nation. In a purely Humanic way, the US where the biggest terrorists every, dropping 2 atomic bombs on civilians. Even today, one may ask himself: Who are the real terrorists? Those who killed 3000 at the WTC, or those who killed more than 1mil in Iraq
@kriddie88 That's not terrorism. War casualties are not considered terrorists. The atomic bomb was dropped to win a war and it was dropped on a city of military significance. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor several years earlier, if you remember? Just because the US attacks back does not make them terrorists. You can't expect people in a war to sit back and be 'nice'. Comparing the US effort in Iraq to 9/11 is shameful and ignorant. Civilians HAVE died, but that is a product of war.
@hansjakobli78 Furthermore, I think your notion of the "grown up decision" is glib. In Small conflict you're right - war is different. How do you expect people to put their careers in jeopardy just so you can put your conscious at ease. It's easy for a civilian to say "I'm not doing that"; In the military you have to do that otherwise you're discharged. Most troops don't fight primarily for political ideas, they fight because being a warrior is what they wanted to do.
I dislike people who claim their spirits will live on or they will serve in the next life as well. Its the belief in another life that causes us to be so negligent with present life. If people would accept that we have one life and thats it, we would value it much greater and meaningless atrocities like WW1 wouldn't happen.
Thanks for this! For WWI fans, there's a great 2-hour documentary that aired on NPR featuring interviews with the last surviving American WWI veterans - World War One Living History Project. Very moving.
There are only three left. One American, one British, and a Canadian. None of them saw combat (albeit Frank Buckles, the American, did drive an ambulance at the Western Front).
For those interested in the UK the History channel recently presented - currently being repeated - a wonderful program called the last voices of world war 1. Do catch it if you can.
Theirs not many veterans still alive that like talking about their experiences. In fact their is plenty of axis and central powers interviews as i remember watching them in my history classes. I disagree with the one sided comment, the history curriculum for secondary school makes us learn about the "Rise of Hitler" where as Churchill has been discarded.
Ah dam, I've noticed an error I've made chaps, the explosion at approximately. 4mins 29 seconds is not the result of the shell fired from the Artillery piece on the pervious clip. The explosion is infact the result of the huge Hawthorn Ridge mine been let off underground just pre to the starting of the Battle of the Somme.
The explosion is the crater at Loch Nagar. Its a memorial now, a massive hole where they are still finding soldiers buried in the earth! This is great, thanks
If Iam not mistaken I watch a show on the History channel about that explosion. I think what they did the British made a tunnel under no mans land to the other side of the german trench, right beneath them they packed it with bombs or dynamites and blew the big hole.killing hundreds of germans soldiers. I think that was horrible didnt expect it.
Its actually the infamous Hawthorne Ridge mine, the British engineers placed several of them under the German position but they had dug themselves in too well and the mines didn't do as much damage as they thought. Sadly thats why so many of the British were slaughtered, they were going over with medical supplies for wounded German soldiers.
That one isn't Loch nagar crater, thats the Hawthorn mine near Beaumont Hamel where the Lancashire Fusiliers attacked, there were a series of explosions on the day.
If there were any veterans I would love to hear stories from. It would be veterans of WW1 and the US civil war :)
PapagenoJuan2 4 months ago
It's depressing knowing that there's only one veteran alive, soon nobody'll really know what it was like.
AdmiralBjorn 5 months ago
Just a few months ago I looked at the Wikipedia page of surviving WW1 vets and there were about 5 or 6. Now there is one, a British woman who served the Royal Air Force. Amazing that I never heard on the news about any of these people but whenever some dumb celebrity dies everyone goes ape shit.
jsquad31 6 months ago 2
The last American WWII veteran died in March of this year.
98bigbutt 6 months ago
2:58 its so surreal looking at that poor man just slumping dead
conoriskool 7 months ago
The people who were in the army during world war I May be dead but their spirits will live on in the world for millions of millions of years.
ṜḜṨṬ ḬṆ ṖḬḜḈḜ
Microsoftware1 8 months ago
MESSAGE TO DISLIKERS AND HATERs//// GO TO HELL
MegaTechnofreak96 9 months ago
Well, it's official. I just got word that the last WW1 veteran has passed away. May He rest in peace.
moastytoasty54 9 months ago
I think it would have been better if Germany would have won WW I by 1914. Think about it: Million of soldier woundn:t have died, there would never have been the Soviet Union, no Nazis, no Japanese expansion, no WW II etc.! And in fact, Germany wasn't better or worse than France or Great Britain, In Prussia women had the right to vote, something even the so very democratic Switzerland introduced in the 1970s (Kanton Appenzell). Furthermore the German social politics were the best in the world.
LongknifeTrooper 10 months ago 2
@LongknifeTrooper You are obviously not British!
overopensights 9 months ago
@TheGentlemanWolf
The German historian Fritz Fischer wrote about the causes of World War 1 and he concluded that Germany indeed held most of the blame for the war. The Prussian Military, the ideals of Bismarck were very much alive in Germany and a lot of the Germany high command was "proto-nazi". Democracy wasn't as developed in the Central Powers as in the Entente, and the Kaiser had the final say.
General Ludendorff was Hitler's earliest supporter after the war.Von Schlieffen plan in 1905..
McLarenMercedes 11 months ago
@TheGentlemanWolf
True. The war was mostly a purely imperialistc exercise between the major European powers, and they had formed allianced several years before the war, the Central Powers first formed in 1879 with Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Entente in 1904. Everybody who had insight into politics at the time knew a major war was breaking out long before 1914, it was inevitable.
However, I still believe the Entente was the "least bad" and had better democracy than Germany and A-H.
McLarenMercedes 11 months ago
yet again the onnly people who profit from war are rich fucking scumbags!!!
marcusos1111 1 year ago
of course I'm speaking in terms of modern combat, not back when some men had to be drafted, and/or had no idea what they were getting into.
mrzeroten 1 year ago
@mrzeroten so they have an idea nowadays. does it make it any better?? The 20year old kids in the Irak know they are there in order to protect the interests of the USA/UK and thus they are the good guys. heck, it's really easy, despite all the lies! like a call of duty video game! 20 years ago young russians were told the same stories in Afghanistan.
Look, all these vets are very impressive. but as human beings, not because they were soldiers.
hansjakobli78 1 year ago
@hansjakobli78 Not all of the reasons that countries go to war are either positive or negative. Countries don't go to war solely for the sake of the rich. We go to war to prevent threats from growing too powerful relative to our own safety. That isn't false propaganda it's the reality of hostile threats. Ultimately we cannot say that what soldiers do is good or bad because of moral relativity. I'm a Left hand path practitioner, as long as they're aware of their true will than I'm fine with it.
mrzeroten 1 year ago
@mrzeroten ok, i understand your arguments. but do you realise that it is your reality only? your point of view?your remark on safety is quite cynical if you think about vietnam for example.
yes, soldier are responsible for their actions!
an adult person should be able to reflect his decisions and decide for himself whether he/she wants to wear a uniform or not. face it - this is how you start to change things. by making decisions on your own.
hansjakobli78 1 year ago
@hansjakobli78 Your statement is idiotic. Of course it makes it better. It's not 'like a video game' because the soldiers are fighting for their lives. You can't play the 'might be bad people' card because these men are dying for your freedom. And yes, we do know the 'right' thing. Because bleeding heart liberals like you constantly whine about how terrorists don't get the same treatment as american citizens
exoticfruitsareyummy 11 months ago
@exoticfruitsareyummy
and i wonder whom do you mean by “we“.....
hansjakobli78 11 months ago
pipp,pipp over the u go,let,s give jerry what for!....&^$%%^$@#@%&*fing murderer,s!!
stratcat70 1 year ago
Legendary. Never seen this before. Very cool to see the great Harry honor the German fallen. I always try to find out as much as I can about the German warriors in my great war reading. It didn't matter what side you were on... brave men with steel nerves, every one of them.
Tikayyan 1 year ago
The world was never the same after that one...
TheLittleJohnny 1 year ago
Its sucks that 99.9% of the veterans are dead.
2345solidsnake 1 year ago
true courage is if you refuse to murder people for some "idea" (eg. "weapons of mass destruction") or "nation", if you decide to make the conscious and grown up decision of settling thins peacefully. it is difficult but it's the only way humanity can evolve.
that's why recruits should be no younger than let's say 28 - they wouldn't just do anything and would reflect on orders critically.
hansjakobli78 1 year ago
@hansjakobli78 So everyone with wisdom much beyond their years has to be subjected to arbitrary rules? You're inferring that wisdom is acquired through time. Wisdom is something that can be acquired once the mind is capable of understanding it. Yes, murder is unfortunate, but some people have chosen to be destroyers and so they must be destroyed. The military doesn't operate on a subordinate counseling basis otherwise nothing would ever get done.
mrzeroten 1 year ago
@mrzeroten but who's the destroyer and who is its destroyer? Who is capable of judging impartially? How can something abstract as a "nation" be good while the other is evil? As Kurt Tucholsky put it: "Soldiers are murderers". Usually they are also victims at the same time. WW1 is a good example of how everyone becomes a victim and a murderer at the same time in times of war- Germans, French, British,etc.
Btw, i served as a soldier.
Who's the good guy in the Irak? The ones that started it?
hansjakobli78 1 year ago
@hansjakobli78 I had already asked myself that same question and came to a satisfactory conclusion, but I cannot summarize it and provide you with an answer with a 500 character limit.
All I can say is:
-I was referring to terrorists
-I believe in the kill 1 save a 1,000 principle
-I wasn't speaking about either side being "evil" merely that immense destroyers need to be put down for humanity's sake
-Lastly - Ideas of good & evil are over simplified
mrzeroten 1 year ago
@mrzeroten look, i'm a not a very wise person and i am glad that Europe was liberated from the nazis.
i understand that terrorists must be stopped. because they murder. but it becomes tricky very quickly- what is the definition of a terrorist? Are soldiers not also terrorists? Japan started the war but the US dropped the atomic bomb on 250'000 defenseless civilians, on a non-military target.
i wish everyone a merry xmas. at one point we'll have to drop our weapons, there is no alternative.
hansjakobli78 1 year ago
@hansjakobli78 That is a possibility and surely something that we should all be striving for, but not in my life time or yours. I can only expect to pave the way to the fruition of such concepts. We will only ever stop the flow of massive blood shed once we have a consensus on the freedom to live our lives free from factors that provoke these drastic measures.
mrzeroten 1 year ago
@hansjakobli78
My friend, judging from your comment, I think you are a very wise përson indeed. Terrorists cannot be defined. Today, a terrorist is anybody fighting against, or disagreeing in whatever way against the ideals and actions by a nation. In a purely Humanic way, the US where the biggest terrorists every, dropping 2 atomic bombs on civilians. Even today, one may ask himself: Who are the real terrorists? Those who killed 3000 at the WTC, or those who killed more than 1mil in Iraq
kriddie88 1 year ago
@kriddie88 That's not terrorism. War casualties are not considered terrorists. The atomic bomb was dropped to win a war and it was dropped on a city of military significance. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor several years earlier, if you remember? Just because the US attacks back does not make them terrorists. You can't expect people in a war to sit back and be 'nice'. Comparing the US effort in Iraq to 9/11 is shameful and ignorant. Civilians HAVE died, but that is a product of war.
exoticfruitsareyummy 11 months ago
@mrzeroten I totally agree with this comment.
exoticfruitsareyummy 11 months ago
@hansjakobli78 Furthermore, I think your notion of the "grown up decision" is glib. In Small conflict you're right - war is different. How do you expect people to put their careers in jeopardy just so you can put your conscious at ease. It's easy for a civilian to say "I'm not doing that"; In the military you have to do that otherwise you're discharged. Most troops don't fight primarily for political ideas, they fight because being a warrior is what they wanted to do.
mrzeroten 1 year ago
@kerranghighvoltage Being shot.
jnash2007 1 year ago
what was the exact date when harry patch passed away?
cmd871 1 year ago
Theres 3 left.
HellsHighwayTrooper 1 year ago
Currently there's only 1 WW1 veteran alive, I think he's british.
ordinaryman1982 1 year ago 2
I dislike people who claim their spirits will live on or they will serve in the next life as well. Its the belief in another life that causes us to be so negligent with present life. If people would accept that we have one life and thats it, we would value it much greater and meaningless atrocities like WW1 wouldn't happen.
xrandyrhoads 1 year ago
Last American still alive: Frank Woodruff Buckles, at a spry 109 years.
benjclark 1 year ago
and how many of the people we are around today will 'go over the top' with us together?
But more importantly how many of us respect the many many lives that were lost and should NEVER be forgotten for what we have today...
mrtommyarthur 2 years ago 2
all of that for a cup of watery tea and a few stale biscuits, if you were lucky.
no thanks.
bodunchar 2 years ago
@bodunchar but he - you died and killed for a "good" purpose! the queen surely liked it!
hansjakobli78 1 year ago
Thanks for this! For WWI fans, there's a great 2-hour documentary that aired on NPR featuring interviews with the last surviving American WWI veterans - World War One Living History Project. Very moving.
wwilivinghistory 2 years ago
Frank Buckles is alive, 109 , last american , drove ambulances in western front .
LINAZAS 2 years ago
thank you for posting this.
lornstar6 2 years ago
RIP my brave Aussie vets and the other allies,they maybe dead but there spirit will live on!!
fpvshitsonhsv 2 years ago 15
those were a different breed of soldiers back then. RIP to them all
MightySnail007 2 years ago 4
Sadly enough in a few years no more ww1 veterans will be alive.
JuniorArtist27 2 years ago 3
There are only three left. One American, one British, and a Canadian. None of them saw combat (albeit Frank Buckles, the American, did drive an ambulance at the Western Front).
Hotshotter3000 2 years ago
Yeah, he would of saw some of the action but never actually engaged in it.
JuniorArtist27 2 years ago
their all dead nnoww :( x
xEmaEmsx 2 years ago
just 2 actually, the british one died on july 26, 09
AwesomeCanadianGinge 2 years ago
one of them is alive and hes 108 years old
MCRrocker97 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
..
the last ww1 veteran (an australian)
has been killed again..
or ..
dead :p
teddinians 2 years ago
R.I.P. thx
ursucarnivor 2 years ago
Does anyone know who the heroes on this are ?
They are now all dead. RIP.
For those interested in the UK the History channel recently presented - currently being repeated - a wonderful program called the last voices of world war 1. Do catch it if you can.
midianholic 3 years ago
there are still 3 alive i think dont know 4 sure though
ushrark 3 years ago
Sadly 2 now. Ned Hughes died at the start of April :(
midianholic 2 years ago
only one of them is alive but he is 108
MCRrocker97 2 years ago
Only 3 veterans left.
ilias900 3 years ago
Thats the description that came with the file to me chap but i'll look into that thanks.
TrenchRum 3 years ago
4:30 "What can I do? I was just alone in a Hell of fire, and smoke and stink".
DoctorMobius 3 years ago 2
Comment removed
isayeverything 3 years ago
Theirs not many veterans still alive that like talking about their experiences. In fact their is plenty of axis and central powers interviews as i remember watching them in my history classes. I disagree with the one sided comment, the history curriculum for secondary school makes us learn about the "Rise of Hitler" where as Churchill has been discarded.
TrenchRum 3 years ago
Comment removed
isayeverything 3 years ago
i suggest u to watch subbed german documentaries.
they are waaaay better then uk and american documentaries they have quite a lot veterans to and is some programs they interwiew SS soldiers.....
AntonnnnSwedenRocks 3 years ago
remember them. young lads was young as 14 was in that war. we got 2 remember them because without them we might not be here
craiggotti 4 years ago 2
excellent that these recordings are still around
smeggen 4 years ago 2
Ah dam, I've noticed an error I've made chaps, the explosion at approximately. 4mins 29 seconds is not the result of the shell fired from the Artillery piece on the pervious clip. The explosion is infact the result of the huge Hawthorn Ridge mine been let off underground just pre to the starting of the Battle of the Somme.
TrenchRum 4 years ago
The explosion is the crater at Loch Nagar. Its a memorial now, a massive hole where they are still finding soldiers buried in the earth! This is great, thanks
hevry27 3 years ago
If Iam not mistaken I watch a show on the History channel about that explosion. I think what they did the British made a tunnel under no mans land to the other side of the german trench, right beneath them they packed it with bombs or dynamites and blew the big hole.killing hundreds of germans soldiers. I think that was horrible didnt expect it.
carmelo1966 3 years ago
Its actually the infamous Hawthorne Ridge mine, the British engineers placed several of them under the German position but they had dug themselves in too well and the mines didn't do as much damage as they thought. Sadly thats why so many of the British were slaughtered, they were going over with medical supplies for wounded German soldiers.
Demilich84 3 years ago
Thanks for the info. Iam hooked on this documentaries.
carmelo1966 3 years ago
That one isn't Loch nagar crater, thats the Hawthorn mine near Beaumont Hamel where the Lancashire Fusiliers attacked, there were a series of explosions on the day.
:)
icudan 2 years ago