Joseph Henry SMITH

Regimental number6353
Place of birthBairnsdale, Victoria
SchoolRoman (Catholic) School, Victoria
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationLabourer
AddressWy Yung, Bairnsdale, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation19
Next of kinFather, Mr W Smith, Glencoe West, Mount Gambier, South Australia
Enlistment date1 April 1916
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name7th Battalion, 20th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/24/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 11 September 1916
Rank from Nominal RollLance Corporal
Unit from Nominal Roll7th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularHe was promoted to Lance Corporal and awarded the Military Medal just previous to his death.
FateDied of wounds 23 August 1918
Place of death or woundingSt. Martens Wood
Age at death19.4
Age at death from cemetery records19
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
51
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William and Hannah SMITH, Gray Street, Mount Gambier, South Australia
Medals

Military Medal

'On 9th August 1918 during the attack on enemy positions between VAUVILLERS and LIHONS, Private SMITH with No. 1396 Corporal MCCORMICK and No. 6473 Private W. COX worked up an enemy communication trench in which was an enemy Machine Gun giving much trouble. An enemy bombing stop was encountered which was at once engaged and rushed. Four Germans were captured and the enemy at once retired leaving their gun, which was duly captured by us. Private SMITH displayed great courage and devotion to duty and the deed of himself and his two comrades saved many casualties and enabled the advance to continue.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 109
Date: 15 September 1919

Family/military connectionsCousins: Trooper W G SMITH who was drowned in Mediterranean Sea saving a French Comrade; Lance Corporal J O BRYAN killed at Gallipoli.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal