The Armistice that ended World War I was officially signed at 5:45 a.m., but, to allow time for the news to reach combatants, it did not go into effect until 11am. In many sections of the front, fighting continued right up until the appointed hour. One reason this happened is because many soldiers did not trust the armistice and were sure that the war would continue on. Other soldiers wanted to reduce the stockpile of shells so that they wouldn’t have to carry so much back after the war.
The continued fighting resulted in 10,944 casualties on the last day of the war. 2,738 of those men died. Here are the last to die among some of the Allied troops:
The continued fighting resulted in 10,944 casualties on the last day of the war. 2,738 of those men died. Here are the last to die among some of the Allied troops:
The last British soldier to die was George Edwin Ellison, a private in the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. He was killed by a sniper around 9:30 a.m. while he was scouting on the outskirts of Mons, Belgium. 40 years old at the time of his death, Ellison had been both a soldier and a coal miner before the war, and volunteered at the beginning of World War I. He left behind a wife and four-year-old son. He is buried in the British cemetery at Mons, close to the grave of the first British soldier to die in the war.
Also buried close to Ellison is Private George Lawrence Price, who was also shot by a sniper. Price, a Canadian, is recognized as the last Commonwealth, soldier to die. He was part of a force advancing into the Belgian town of Ville-sur-Haine, just north of Mons, when he was shot at 10:58, just two minutes before the armistice.
The last Frenchman to die was Augustin Trébuchon, who was a shepherd who played the accordion for village parties before he joined joined the 415th Infantry Regiment as a messenger in August of 1914. On November 11, 1918, he had been sent to deliver a message to the 163rd Infantry Division, which had been ordered to attack an élite German unit, the Hannetons at Vrigne-sur-Meuse, in the Ardennes. He was killed fifteen minutes before the Armistice was supposed to begin.
The message that was still in his hand when is body was found said that hot soup would be served at 11:30, half an hour after the ceasefire. Like many grave markers of French soldiers killed on the last day of battle, his says that he died on November 10th.
The last American to die was killed just one minute before the Armistice. Henry Gunther had recently been demoted, and may have been trying to redeem his reputation when he charged a German roadblock and was mowed down by a short burst of machine gun fire. This picture is the one that is on his grave marker.
On this Veteran's Day, we remember all who have served their country and been lost in war, and we pray for peace for the families and loved ones left behind.
