ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A Canadian woman believed to be the last female veteran of World War I has died at the age of 109.
Gladys Powers of Abbotsford, British Columbia, was born in London and served as an auxiliary with British forces, The Telegraph reported. She married a Canadian soldier and moved to Canada in 1920.
Powers, then Gladys Stokes, enlisted in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps when she was 15, lying about her age, and later served as a barracks waitress with the Royal Air Force. There are no official records of her World War I service because they were destroyed in World War II bombing.
After divorcing her first husband, Powers was married and widowed three times.
She was founder of the Western Canada Pekingese Club and served as its honorary president until her death.
Powers told an interviewer that she always enjoyed playing "boys' games" with her brother during a childhood that took her as far afield as Australia.
Derek Twigg, the British veterans minister, said that Powers like the other 80,000 women who served during World War I "did much to break down barriers."
