--- title: "A few years ago the top YouTuber was a WWII vet telling stories" date: "2020-02-05" modified: "2020-10-21" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/top-youtuber-2006-aging-wwii-veteran-telling-stories-last-days/" categories: - "History" - "War History" --- # A few years ago the top YouTuber was a WWII vet telling stories ![]() Peter Oakley was a British pensioner and widower from Bakewell, Derbyshire, England. --- On the Internet, he was known as geriatric1927, or "the Internet Grandad," a YouTube personality whose long-running show *Telling It All* consisted of five to ten minute autobiographical videos, including his service as an 18-year old Royal Navy radar mechanic during World War II. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pshFZZiGxvc Though an aging (Oakley was 79 when he began his show) man telling old stories about his life may seem dry, [his YouTube page was the #1 most subscribed page of 2006](), just one year after the page's launch. By the time Google purchased YouTube, Oakley had 30,000 subscribers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB69D9J7o_o "It's a fascinating place to go to see all the wonderful videos that you young people have produced so I thought I would have a go at doing one myself,"[ he told the Guardian in 2006.]() "What I hope I will be able to do is to just bitch and grumble about life in general from the perspective of an old person ... and hopefully you will respond in some way by your comments." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX8xcELDyhQ While that may not seem like a lot by todays standards (Jenna Marbles, one of YouTube's current top channels, has more than 15 million subscribers), in the early days of social media, Oakley's stories were beating YouTubers signed by large networks and other brands. People were interested in watching Oakley muse on how the world had changed. His first video, called "First Try" now has almost 3 million views. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_YMigZmUuk Oakley's discussions on life, war, motorcycles, and more led to a YouTube stardom which allowed the widower to avoid the lonely life of a traditional aging pensioner, traveling all over the world, earning extra income. He was even asked to weigh in on other YouTube phenomena. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFJ0dbhyFVo Oakley would be diagnosed with untreatable cancer in 2012. By that time, he had made more than 350 videos. His final video, the 434th on the page, was posted on February 12, 2014 and he died on March 23 that year. His final words to his audience: "In conclusion, I would say my possibly final goodbye. So goodbye." ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()