| Regimental number | 1862 |
| Place of birth | Perth, Western Australia |
| School | Claremont and Cottesloe State Schools, Western Australia |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Occupation | Wool classer |
| Address | corner of Ottaway and Franklin Streets, Claremont, Western Australia |
| Marital status | Single |
| Age at embarkation | 20 |
| Height | 6' 1.5" |
| Weight | 173 lbs |
| Next of kin | Father, W J Smith, corner of Ottaway and Franklin Streets, Claremont, Western Australia |
| Previous military service | Served in Compulsory Naval Training and Artillery (37th Battery, Australian Field Artillery, still serving at time of AIF enlistment). |
| Enlistment date | |
| Rank on enlistment | Gunner |
| Unit name | Field Artillery Brigade 3, Battery 8 |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 13/31/1 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board Transport A7 Medic on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | 2nd Lieutenant |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 28th Battalion |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of death or wounding | France |
| Age at death | 23 |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 23 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 23), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 114 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: William and Adelaide SMITH, Otway and Franklin Streets, Claremont, Western Australia |
| Family/military connections | Cousins: 5350 Pte Bevil Bernard James EDWARDS, 28th Bn, killed in action, 2 March 1917; Pte F BROWN, killed in action, 26 October 1917 in France [cannot be further identified; date of death possibly wrong]. |
| Other details |
War service: embarked from Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, Gallipoli, 4 April 1915. Wounded in action, 3 May 1915 (shoulder); transferred from 17th General Hospital, 13 June 1915; transferred to hospital ship and embarked for Lemnos, 20 June 1915. Embarked for England , 18 September 1915; admitted to 5th London General Hospital (St Thomas), 26 September 1915. Admitted to Overseas Base, Ghezerih, Egypt, from England, 5 March 1916. Embarked for overseas (England), 11 May 1916. Promoted Corporal, 15 June 1916; Temporary Sergeant, 1 October 1916; Staff Sergeant, 15 December 1916. Proceeded overseas to France, 14 April 1917; taken on strength, 28th Bn, 19 April 1917. Commissioned as 2nd Lt, 16 May 1917. Admitted to 47th Casualty Clearing Station, 31 May 1917 (pyrexia, unknown origin); rejoined Bn, 10 June 1917. Killed in action, Belgium, 20 September 1917. Killed in enemy shell fire in the attack on Polygon Wood; buried on the spot. Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
Postal Address:
Po Box 7916
Canberra BC 2610, Australia
Street Address:
Northcott Drive,
Campbell, ACT 2600
