Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Death of the Last World War I Veteran: Florence Green-- Part 1

Was a member of the of the Women's Royal Air Force at the end of the war.

Florence Green died Feb. 4th at age 110, just two weeks before her 111th birthday. Born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on Feb. 19, 1901, she joined the WRAF in September 1918 at age 17.

She worked as a waitress in the officer's mess at RAF Marham in eastern England and was serving there when the war ended.

It wasn't until recently that her status as a World War I veteran was fortunately found. In 2008, she said, "I met dozens of pilots and would go on dates. I had the opportunity to go up in one of the planes, but I was afraid of flying."

The RAF marked her 110th birthday back in February 2011 with a cake and ceremony. When asked what it was to be 110, she replied that it wasn't much different from being 109.

I have been following the last of this other great generation the last several years. The last combatant, the Royal Navy's Claude Choule, died last year, as did the last US veteran, Frank Buckles. Click on the World War I Survivors label.

More to Come. --The Last of an Era.

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