George Frederick Ives (17 November 1881 – 12 April 1993) was a British Canadian army veteran, who became known as the last surviving veteran of the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. Ives became known in the UK after a piece in the Peterborough Column in the '' Daily Telegraph''. His record as oldest British veteran, at 111 years, 146 days, of any war was broken on 1 November 2007 by

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran

Henry Allingham Henry William Allingham (6 June 1896 – 18 July 2009) was an English supercentenarian. He is the longest-lived man ever recorded from the United Kingdom, a First World War veteran, and, for one month, the verified oldest living man in the wo ...

Early life

George Ives was born in Brighton, England on November 17, 1881. The family worked for the Tidmarsh family. He worked in his father's workshop in Bristol until 1899. That December, Ives was eager to enlist after hearing that the British had been defeated at Colenso and Magersfontein. Ives served as a Private in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Bristol Engineers from 1900 to 1901.

Boer War

In the

, George Ives fought with the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. On January 30, 1901, Ives attested for service as a Trooper, number 21198, with the 1st (Wiltshire) Company, 1st Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. His height was 5'6, his eyes dark blue, hair black, and trade listed as a grocer. He trained in England until the end of February, when he proceeded to South Africa. George Ives, Boer War

Ives served in South Africa from March 1st, 1901 to August 27, 1902, fighting on patrols in the Transvaal, Orange Free State, and the Cape Colony. In an interview many years later, Ives described these patrols: - ''"We started out in the morning early, had a good camp breakfast, filled our water cans up with coffee, and we went. Before the sun was up any strength at all, nearly all the drink had gone. We was all day and we'd chew stones in our mouth and try and agitate a little saliva. Finally we got to the end of the trip and fell off the horse, the horse was thirsty too, and we'd throw some water in our mouths and on the back of our neck, and when we looked up ediscovered there was two dead mules in the same pond, but it didn't matter about mules rotting, you had to satisfy your thirst."'' In the same interview Ives recalled his proudest moment during the war: - ''"The most important omentwas when the Captain had us fall in, get in line, it was after supper, at night, and when they were all there he said 'Ives take ten paces forward' and I stepped forward ten paces, and he says to the company: 'here is the man who was scouting through 70 miles of enemy territory several times'. The captain then said give him a cheer, and they said 'hoorah, hoorah' and I went back in line."'' Ives was discharged in England on September 3, 1902 and for his service in South Africa, he was awarded the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with clasps for ''Cape Colony'', ''Orange Free State'', ''Transvaal'', ''South Africa 1901'', and ''South Africa 1902''.

Later Life

Ives emigrated to Canada in 1903 with his father and purchased of land for ten dollars. On that land in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

he began to farm and would spend most of his life doing so. He was rejected from service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

because of a

heart murmur Heart murmurs are unique heart sounds produced when blood flows across a heart valve or blood vessel. This occurs when turbulent blood flow creates a sound loud enough to hear with a stethoscope. Turbulent blood flow is not smooth. The sound di ...

. In 1910, he married Kay Nelson. The couple had three sons and three daughters. Nelson disliked the hard life of the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

, so in 1919 the family moved to

White Rock, British Columbia White Rock is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It borders Semiahmoo Bay to the south and is surrounded on three sides by Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey. To the southeast acr ...

. Ives owned a farm there and eventually retired from it in 1941. He looked and found another job because he said that his retirement was an excuse to change jobs. He worked in a shipyard building wooden scows for another 15 years until 1956, when he finally announced his retirement. The Ives resided in the same house until 1984, after which they moved into a

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple in ...

. His wife died in 1987. He attended the Royal Albert Hall service on

Remembrance day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

1992 in the UK and met Queen Elizabeth,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, and Prime Minister John Major. At the time, he was the last living veteran entitled to wear a Queen Victoria Medal and laid a wreath at the memorial. Ives died on 12 April 1993 aged 111 years, 146 days in

, Canada. Ives was laid to rest near Streamstown, Alberta.

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