John Edward Davis (1 March 1895 – 20 July 2003) was one of the last surviving British veterans of the First World War and the last of Kitchener's Volunteers.
[1] He died aged 108, by which point he was the oldest living British veteran of the First World War.
He once made a famous speech about his life: "I would not agree to participate in any form of warfare again.
Normally we slept through sheer exhaustion.The Germans held all the advantages at the Salient [a bulge in the frontline].
Whether we were in the frontlines, No Man's Land or collecting rations from the dump at Hellfire Corner, we came under constant bombardment.
When I explained what had happened my partner was sent back for medical treatment.In most cases, shell-shocked men weren't regarded as being ill and not responsible for their actions.
They almost selected me for an execution firing squad, and I'm glad another man was found to carry out the sentence.
Staying off the roads so I wouldn't get caught , I eventually found my older brother Percy - the younger one, William, was being treated for his wounds.
We've had Korea, Vietnam, Israel, Northern Ireland, Bosnia - and what have they successfully achieved?"
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