Talk:John Babcock

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Good articleJohn Babcock has been listed as one of the Warfare good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
On this day... Article milestones
DateProcessResult
October 10, 2007WikiProject peer reviewReviewed
November 18, 2007Good article nomineeListed
March 19, 2010WikiProject A-class reviewNot approved
September 23, 2010Featured article candidateNot promoted
September 22, 2011WikiProject A-class reviewNot approved
On this day... Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on July 23, 2020, and July 23, 2022.
Current status: Good article

Photo request[edit]

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! Attempting to contact Veterans Affairs Canada has gotten me nowhere... Cheers, CP 01:52, 30 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Did you get a reaction at all? Extremely sexy 15:08, 1 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
No, no response whatsoever from the first address I've tried. Since it's been a month, I'm going to send my email to the second address and see what happens. Cheers, CP 15:14, 1 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Good luck, Paul. Extremely sexy 21:39, 1 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, Bart, I have a feeling that I'll need it. The email has been sent to the second address, so we shall see what (if anything) happens. Cheers, CP 04:00, 2 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I would have sent it to the two e-mail addresses right away, by the way. Extremely sexy 11:16, 3 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I heard back from them, and they want me to fill out a form and do some other stuff. I'm going to look at it later and see if it's something that can be done. Cheers, CP 16:45, 10 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Great news, Paul. Extremely sexy 12:23, 11 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Turns out that it's not something that can be done... back to square one it seems... Cheers, CP 06:30, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

KXLY has tons of photos and video of the guy. Why not ask them kxly.com mercator79 0905, 24 July 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.29.1.114 (talk)

GAN Review: On Hold[edit]

I have reviewed this article according to the requirements of the GA criteria and have placed the article on hold until the following issues are addressed:

  1. In the intro, consider moving "since the death of Dwight Wilson.[1]" to the sentence "In May 2007, he became the last surviving veteran of the First World War who served with the Canadian forces."  Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  2. In the first paragraph of the Early life section, reword some of the sentences to use other words besides "according" which is used three times. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  3. "On growing up in the area, Babcock claims that he "didn't do very much," although he admits that "It was a fun place to grow up."" Add an inline citation for this; even if it comes from the source at the end of the paragraph each quote should be directly sourced. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  4. "At only 15 and a half years of age..." Remove "only". Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Fix the link for The Charge of the Light Brigade to The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem). Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  6. "There he underwent a physical, where it was discovered that he was underage." If possible include the actual cut-off age for joining the military at the time. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  7. "Babcock then undertook an ocean voyage to England, where he got seasick." It's probably not necessary to mention that he got seasick. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  8. "The ship that he used in passage, the T.S.S. California was torpedoed two trips later as the amount of submarine activity increased." Add the inline citation at the end of the paragraph after this as well. Done I just removed it, as the facts didn't line up and it didn't add much anyways. Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  9. "This, according to Babcock, was one of innumerable psychological problems that occurred during and after the war." Add the inline citation. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  10. In the After World War I section, there are several inline citations with a space after the punctuation; make sure they go directly after the punctuation. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  11. "...and is in good mental and physical health..." Is this at the time of age 65, or is he currently? Reword if this is his current state. The sentence is also going to need an inline citation. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  12. "Babcock has been married twice, first to Elsie, then to Dorothy, a woman nearly thirty years his junior." Are the last names of the women known?
    No, not that I could find, sorry. Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  13. "whom Babcock jokes is a "nice looking gal"." Needs inline citation. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  14. "while the local coffee shop named their local blend, "The Jack," after him." If possible include an inline citation. Done Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Other than the above issues, the article looks fine concerning NPOV, broadness, and stability. As per the above discussion, it looks like there is a determined effort to get an image, so keep up with that. If possible, include another free image related to some aspect of his life listed on the article. There might be some military free images available. I will leave the article on hold for seven days for the above issues to be addressed, which shouldn't take too long. Good work on the article so far, it was an interesting read. If you have any questions about the review or when you are done addressing the above issues, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. --Nehrams2020 (talk) 19:27, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As for the image, I'm still working on that but, as you may imagine, the bureaucracy isn't exactly the fastest of mechanisms, especially given that I'm contacting them from the United States. Anyhow, if there is anything else that needs to be done, please let me know. Cheers, CP 21:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

GA passed[edit]

Excellent work on addressing the above issues so quickly. I have passed this article according to the requirements of the GA criteria. Keep improving the article, making sure that all new information is properly sourced. To anyone that reads this review, please consider helping to review articles at WP:GAN to help with the current backlog. New editors are always welcomed, even if it is only to review one or two articles. You can seek instructions here. I have updated the article history of the article to reflect this review. Happy editing! --Nehrams2020 (talk) 04:36, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

United States Army service[edit]

If Babcock served in the U.S. Army, and made sergeant, becoming a U.S. Citizen in 1946 my guess is that he was also a WWII veteran. Thoughts? V. Joe (talk) 18:16, 7 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

By the time that the United States got involved in World War I, I think he would have been too old to serve overseas, so I don't think that he was a WWII veteran. Plus there's no record of it in any of the sources. 71.42.216.100 (talk) 21:37, 7 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Improper name change[edit]

I want to formally question the decision of changing the name of this article from "John Babcock" to "Jack Babcock" because in all iterations, "John Babcock" turns up far more Google hits than "Jack Babcock":

"John Babcock" +Canada = 4,840 hits
"Jack Babcock" +Canada = 688 hits

"John Babcock" +World War I = 3,050 hits
"Jack Babcock" +World War I = 310 hits

"John Babcock" +WWI = 1,500 hits
"Jack Babcock" +WWI = 111 hits

Etc. etc. Also note that his self-published autobiography is titled "Ten Decades of John Foster Babcock". While he may be known as "Jack" to his friends, he's not Liberace or Charlton Heston and is not in any sense "well known" by "Jack" as the above evidence shows. Furthermore, as this is an encyclopedia and not a colloquial treatment of the subject, he should be listed by his formal name unless there is a good reason not to (say, if he had a professional stage name as per above).

Unless I hear a convincing argument otherwise, I plan on changing it back very shortly. Cheers, CP 23:46, 11 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I concur with your assessment; I don't see a compelling reason to use a nickname here. Maralia (talk) 04:32, 12 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Seems to be no opposition, so I'm going to move it back. Cheers, CP 18:21, 16 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sydenham "neighbourhood"?[edit]

The article refers to Sydenham as a "neighbourhood" and South Frontenac as a "hometown". This should be changed. Sydenham, Ontario is an unincorporated village in eastern Ontario - it is not a suburb or a neighbourhood of some other town or city. A township in most cases refers to a fairly-large (but not quite county-sized) rural area, including various unincorporated villages which fall within that area. South Frontenac would contain (I presume) Inverary, Sydenham, Battersea - but none of these is a borough, suburb or neighbourhood of some other town. Each is a small, unincorporated village surrounded by open farmland. There is a "Sydenham ward" as a neighbourhood near Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario but that's an entirely different animal. --66.102.80.212 (talk) 02:31, 12 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A Picture Please[edit]

It would be real nice if we could get a photo that is not copyrighted, to put on the article. Mr. Babcock is well known for sending signed photos from his personal camera. Can we do this. Mr. Buckles has one on his site, and think it would be nice to have an old or current photo "here" of Mr. Babcock. If I knew how to go about doing it, I would myself. Thanks (Pershingboy)63.3.10.130 (talk) 04:38, 20 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, if we can get a free picture up, that'd be great... I tried when I was raising this article to GA status, but with no luck. I even contacted the relevant Canadian government agencies, but to no avail. Buckles is much easier, because any photos taken of him by the U.S. government or any of its branches is in the public domain... I don't believe that the same is true for Canada. That being said, I'm very willing to help out if I can be of service in this. Cheers, CP 07:21, 20 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Death[edit]

The Prime Minister of Canada sent the following statement to the media at 00:43, 19 February 2010 (UTC):

STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the death of the last known Canadian First World War veteran, John Babcock:

“I was deeply saddened to learn today of the death of John Babcock, Canada’s last known First World War veteran. On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to Mr. Babcock’s family and friends. As a nation, we honour his service and mourn his passing.

“John Babcock was Canada’s last living link to the Great War, which in so many ways marked our coming of age as a nation. In honouring his service and mourning his passing, we honour the proud history of our country and pay tribute to all those who fought and died for Canada.

“Mr. Babcock was one of 650,000 Canadian men and women who served in the Canadian Forces during the First World War. They paid dearly for the freedom that we and our children enjoy every day. Today they are all gone. However, their voices and stories live on. They live on in our commitment to never forget, to cherish the values they fought for and to remember their sacrifices.

“The passing of Mr. Babcock marks the end of an era. His family mourns the passing of a great man. Canada mourns the passing of the generation that asserted our independence on the world stage and established our international reputation as an unwavering champion of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”


- 30 -


The passing of Canada’s last known First World War Veteran marks the end of an era. The Government of Canada has plans to respectfully mark this moment in our history. Canadians will have the opportunity to pay their respect and honour all those who served our country in the First World War. Details will be announced in the coming days.

For more information visit: http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca.

PMO Press Office: 613-957-5555 This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

FullSmash26 (talk) 00:59, 19 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]


The PMO's news release is available in French: http://www.pm.gc.ca/fra/media.asp?category=3&id=3147

The Globe and Mail, of which I work for on a freelance contract, has a news story here: http://www.pm.gc.ca/fra/media.asp?category=3&id=3147

Can someone who is familiar with the template of the article please update?

FullSmash26 (talk) 01:20, 19 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Gross signature[edit]

When I visited the page the entire head of the page was blown to bits by the 900+ pixel signature. I looked at it and tried using the same format as was used for the portrait to limit the size. This is a huge improvement, but it left a lot of cruft wrapped around the image. It appears that the proper signature format depends on the existence of a 200-pixel version on file, but I have no experience with uploading images here (although I certainly have a lot of experience resizing files) so I didn't want to dive into that.

If someone could clean this up it would be great.

Also great would be if someone wanted to point me the process for adding the reduced-size version. Drop me a note at vanhorn@whidbey.com if you have succinct directions, reminding of what page we're talking about, and I'll be glad to take care of it.

Van — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vanhorn (talk • contribs) 06:56, 23 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I fixed it. The parameter now automatically scales the picture to a reduced size, so all one needs is the file name. Canadian Paul 05:41, 15 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2nd anniversary since the death of the last Canadian veteran[edit]

today marks two years since we lost Mr. Babcock, RIP :( Tony (talk) 23:52, 18 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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