PASSINGS / Bill Stone
Bill Stone, 108, one of Britain’s last surviving World War I veterans, died Saturday from a chest infection, the Ministry of Defense said Monday.
Stone is the last known veteran in Britain to have fought in both World War I and World War II. He was one of only three World War I survivors who took part in last year’s services to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I.
William Stone was born in Devon, in southwest England, on Sept. 23, 1900, the 10th of 14 children. He joined the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday. He joined the coal-fired battle cruiser HMS Tiger just weeks before the Allies declared victory. He stayed with the Royal Navy after the end of the first world war, sailing all over the world, including Cape Town and Jakarta.
He was working as chief stoker on the mine sweeper HMS Salamander when World War II broke out, and he took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, making five trips to the beaches to rescue exhausted Allied soldiers.
He left the navy in 1945 and opened a tobacco and hairdressing shop in Devon.
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