JOHN BABCOCK - Our last Man is Down!

John Babcock died today at 109 he was the Last Canadian Soldier of WW1

He enlisted in February 1916 at the age of 15 after lying about his age. He trained in Canada and England but the Great War ended before he reached the trenches. In February 1916, at 15, Babcock signed up and the medical examiner put down his "apparent age" as 18, which meant he was allowed to train. In spite of being under the legal age to fight, which was 19, he continued his attempts to get to the front line. He lied about his age again, and sailed to Britain where underage boys formed the Young Soldiers' Battalion to train until they were eligible to fight. "I wanted to go to France because I was just a tin soldier." In an interview with the Canadian Army website he said: "I don't consider myself to be a veteran, because I never got to fight." He lied about his age again, and sailed to Britain with the Royal Canadian Regiment.

There, conscripts under the legal age of 19 formed the Young Soldiers' Battalion to train until they were eligible to fight. But he never saw action as the Armistice was signed six months before he reached his 19th birthday. He moved to the United States in the 1920s, serving in the United States Army between 1921 and 1924, before becoming an electrician. He now lives in Spokane, Washington.

Please CLICK on the link below to view the letter

which was sent to the Dominion President Comrade Edmond at Dominion Command from the Joint Task Force Command in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Letter from Joint Task Force Command

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