Posted on 02/07/2006 10:02:35 AM PST by Borges
The last remaining merchant sailor from the First World War has died aged 107, his family have said. Nicholas Swarbrick died peacefully last Thursday at the nursing home in Grimsargh, Lancashire, where he spent his final years.
His death leaves just 11 soldiers, sailors and airmen from the Great War, said a National Archives spokesman.
Most of these live in the south of England, apart from two in Australia and one who lives in Derby.
Mr Swarbrick served as a merchant seaman during the 1914-1918 conflict.
His nephew, Rodney Swarbrick, said : "We are coming to the end of an era.
"He was a remarkable man. He thought he had lived in the most exciting century the world has ever seen. He thought he had been lucky to live through a century of such unparalleled endeavour and achievement for mankind."
In an interview last year to mark Armistice Day, Mr Swarbrick said he could still recall the death of Queen Victoria as a boy and his memories of the war years lived on with him.
Born in Grimsargh, near Preston, he joined the Merchant Navy aged 17 and trained as a radio officer. German U-Boats took a terrible toll on Allied shipping, sending thousands of service personnel, and civilians, to a watery grave.
Mr Swarbrick said: "I was the radio officer and could hear when ships were being sunk.
SOS distress
"I could hear the SOS messages from torpedoed ships, ships in distress and going down and hearing their death throes. It was pretty horrifying to hear what was happening on the airwaves.
"And the instructions we had was not to go to their aid, because you yourself then became a target for the sub lurking close by.
"You had to get the hell out of it rather than go to help - that would be merely to commit suicide.
"I always expected us to be next, I think we just got used to that fear, but it never happened to us."
Working life
Mr Swarbrick remained in the Merchant Navy for 13 years.
He switched to his father's farm business in Grimsargh for the rest of his working life.
Mr Swarbrick remained teetotal and single all his life, but one of his nephews is an officer in the Royal Navy.
He died in a nursing home which overlooks land which his father and he once farmed.
The veteran will be cremated at Preston Crematorium on Friday.
According to the National Archives there are three sailors from the Royal Navy, who served in the First World War, who are still alive, four soldiers, three members of the Royal Flying Corps and one member of the Royal Navy Air Service.
He really saw a lot in his long life. Great picture--he looks like a happy man.
"His death leaves just 11 soldiers, sailors and airmen from the Great War, said a National Archives spokesman."
No American fighters left from the Great War? Is this true?
There is still one in my part of the country, and he was at the Veteran's Day parade. I think he's also 107.
Could be for the Commonwealth only.
I think they may have been referring to just Brits.
May he rest in peace.
RIP, sailor.
My grandmother's brother fought in World War I. He was 95 years old when he died in 1991.
I once asked him to tell me about his experiences in WWI. He suddenly turned silent and began to look pale.
Jeepers. I always wondered...what the heck did he go through that would cause such deep pain after 70 years?
I suspect that is the case. They could have said that, seems a might disrespectful, IMO.
"Mr Swarbrick remained ......... single all his life."
The secret to longevity in men?
That was explained in the article. He remained single all his life.
Ducking
Many didn't want to talk about it.... My grandfather (WWII vet and bronze star winner) NEVER talked about his experiences.
Prayers for this man and his family...
Ok, scampy!
At age 107 Mr Swarbrick would have been born in 1899. He joined the British merchant marine at 17, or in 1916. He remembers Queen Victoria's death in 1901 ... at age two, pretty remarkable ... the earliest recollections I have of early youth start about age 3.
That's the smallest nose I've ever seen on an old man.
RIP, old timer, and thanks from a grateful generation for your service in the cause of liberty.
Looks better than Keith Richards did Sunday night.
Probably still does.
He would've been about two at the time. Good memory.
I remember Kennedy being killed, I was 4. If I live to be 107 that will be a startling memory to have. What gets me about this is that when I was a kid there must have been people left that remembered the Civil War, albeit from a child's perspective.
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