Armistice Day: The Heartbreaking Stories Of The Last Soldiers To Die In The First World War

As the eleventh hour tolls in Britain today, thousands will stand to remember those who lost their lives in war. The act of remembering those who fought and died in every war, as well as those who have been made victims of war through no fault of their own, is as important today as it ever has been.

This year in particular marks 100 years to the day since the end of the First World War. World War I changed the world forever, and today it is worth remembering every death caused by war.

American Henry Nicholas John Gunther - the son of a German immigrant - was moments away from the end of the war when he was killed.

He wasn't even supposed to be on the battlefield that day.

The 23-year-old was drafted in to fight just over a year earlier but, according to historians, was soon disgraced after military censors found out he'd been criticising the war in letters home to his family. He was demoted from sergeant to private.

Ashamed, he spent the last few weeks of the war volunteering to go on the most dangerous missions possible in order to claw back the honour he had lost.

But it was this streak of bravery which led to the Baltimore native's death, just seconds before the end of the war.

At 10.59am, near the town of Meuse in north east France, bayonet in hand and peace in sight, Private Gunther made a final charge at the German position. Ignoring their calls for him to stop, he continued his charge and left with no choice, they turned their machine gun and killed him.

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James M. Cain, a reporter for The Baltimore Sun spoke to Gunther's fellow soldiers after his death, who said: "Gunther brooded a great deal over his reduction in rank and became obsessed with a determination to make good before his officers and fellow soldiers.

"The regiment went into action a few days after he was reduced, and from the start he displayed the most unusual willingness to expose himself to all sorts of risks."

Following his death, the Army restored Gunther to the rank of sergeant and awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross.

He is buried at Baltimore's Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, with a bronze plaque that reads: "Highly Decorated for Exceptional Bravery and Heroic Action that Resulted in His Death One Minute Before the Armistice."

More soldiers died on the final day of the war than were killed, wounded or missing on D-Day.

As news of the peace trickled slowly through Europe, brothers, fathers and sons continued to die.

French shepherd Augustin Trebuchon was another of those men, but for more than 80 years his death was shrouded in mystery - almost denied by those he fought for.

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As the family's bread winner, he should have escaped the horrors of war, but like so many the proud Frenchman was compelled to defend his country and in 1914, signed up to fight.

Serving as a private in the 415th infantry, he survived four years of trench warfare, fighting in some of the bloodiest battles of the conflict, including Verdun and the Somme.

But on November 11, 1918, and knowing peace had been agreed, Trebuchon was sent out to deliver a final message to his fellow soldiers - who were carrying out one last attack in Vrigne-sur-Meuse - to tell them where to meet once the cease fire began.

But before he could deliver his message, which read 'Rassemblement à 11h 30 pour le ravitaillement' - 'meet at 11.30am for food' - he was shot and killed.

Inspired by the tragic death, French journalist Alexandre Duyck wrote his first novel, named 'Augustin'.

He said: "Imagine this shepherd going off to war at 36. He is told it will only last a few months and he winds up staying on until the very end, only to die in the last quarter of an hour.

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"In a sense, everyone has their own last killed. To me, Augustin's death is a symbol, not a claim to glory. I don't think he would have found pride in it post mortem."

Embarrassed at having ordered a military advance so late in the day, the French Army recorded Trebuchon's death as having happened a day earlier.

To this day, his small white cross, which lies in a cemetery in Vrigne-Meuse, reads: 'MORT POUR LA FRANCE LE 10.11.18'

Augustin was eventually honoured however, when a street in Vrigne-Meuse - where he and 17 others died - was named after him.

Like Trebuchon, British soldier Private George Ellison survived four years of war, fighting at Ypres, Loos, Cambrai, and the Somme - it was a miracle for any Tommy to survive life on the Western Front.

Born in York and raised in Leeds, he was a miner by trade but in 1914 signed up to the army and was part of the British Expeditionary Force - the very first soldiers sent to France, where he served in the 5th Royal Irish Lancers.

Leeds Civic Trust

But at 9.30am on November 11, the 40-year-old father-of-one was shot and killed by a German sniper, while on patrol in the woods near the Belgian town of Mons, the site of his and Britain's first and last battles.

Six days later, Private Ellison's son, James, had his fifth birthday.

To mark his bravery, a plaque was unveiled last week at Leeds Railway Station, where thousands of brothers, fathers, and sons would have passed through on their way to war.

It was presented by Darrel Lindley, shift station manager at Leeds station, whose grandfather Albert Mountain also fought in the First World War and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Ellison is buried at St Symphorien Military Cemetery in Mons, next to John Parr, the first British soldier to be killed in 1914 - aged just 16.

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Little is known about the last German soldier to die on the battlefields of Europe. It is believed to be Lieutenant Tomas, killed shortly after 11am by a group of American soldiers who didn't know the war was over.

Tomas is understood to have been trying to tell them he and his fellow troops were retreating and had abandoned a nearby house when they opened fire and killed him.

The First World War claimed the lives of 14 million men, women, and children, including nine million soldiers from 28 countries.

These were just four of almost 11,000 who died on the final day. They paid the ultimate sacrifice for a war they thought would end all wars, and with every year that passes it becomes even more important they are never forgotten.

Topics: UK News, Interesting, US News