Cape Breton Post July 19, 2007 Canada's sole surviving First World War veteran celebrates 107th birthday SPOKANE, Wa. (CP) - Canada's last known surviving First World War veteran took a bite of his 107th birthday cake, read his card from the Queen and wondered what all the fuss was about. Holding court from his livingroom couch in suburban Spokane, Wa., John (Jack) Babcock admitted Wednesday the global attention lavished upon him had little to do with his wartime accomplishments. "I ate up a lot of good government rations," Babcock said with traditional Canadian humility despite the American twang in his voice. But with the death of his brother-in-arms Dwight Wilson in May at 106, Babcock has indeed achieved something he never ever thought of until recently. He's the last soldier standing. Babcock now holds the title of the last known living Canadian to cross the Atlantic in uniform to fight for the Allies in the Great War. And with his official birthday approaching on Monday, now is as good a time as any to celebrate. Babcock doesn't at all mind the attention and visitors - particularly females in short skirts - and he loves to tell old stories and sing long-forgotten war ditties. But he also realizes his newfound fame is fleeting. "I know I'm going to die some day, so what the hell. I try to live a good clean life and I have a good wife who helps me." With a full head of frizzy white hair, a bright blue Hawaiian shirt and white shorts hanging off his bony frame, some imagination and time-yellowed photographs are required to picture Babcock in his young soldier prime. With little prompting, his mind drifts back more than a century to his early childhood on an Ontario farm, complete with vivid memories of wild cherry trees, snakes and foxes. Born in 1900, Babcock was not even 16 years old when he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Regiment to go and fight the Germans in the muddy, bloody battlefields of Europe. Lying about his age, Babcock made it to England before his service record caught up with him and he was relegated to the Boys Batallion and not allowed to see action. He trained hard along with nearly 1,300 other under-age soldiers in anticipation of crossing the channel and facing enemy fire, but the war ended before he could set foot in the trenches of France.