SMITH, Percy Webster
| Service Number: | 7138 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 March 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Essex, England, 9 February 1873 |
| Home Town: | Kalgoorlie, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Timekeeper |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 3 July 1950, aged 77 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia The Western Australian Garden of Remembrance |
| Memorials: | Boulder Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Mar 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 7138, 28th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jul 1917: | Involvement Private, 7138, 28th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Albany embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Melbourne embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Jul 1917: | Embarked Private, 7138, 28th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Melbourne, Albany | |
| 1 Feb 1918: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 7138, 28th Infantry Battalion, embarked England for RTA per HT Balmoral Castle | |
| 13 Sep 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 7138, 28th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Percy Webster Smith (Service No:7138) served with 28th Infantry Battalion from 24 March 1917 to 13 September 1918. Private Smith had initially applied to enlist on 25 September 1916, and was rejected due to 'unsound lungs' (NAA). In his Attestation Paper, Private Smith stated he had served eighteen months with South African Mounted Infantry.
Born in 1873 in Essex England, Percy was youngest of five children of Grimston Abel Smith (b1843 in London, England) and his first wife Jane Spencer Hancock (b1838 in London, England). Grimston and Jane married in 1862 in Essex where they raised their family and Grimston worked as a Commercial Clerk and Brewer's Cashier. Jane died in 1873 and Grimston in 1888.
Percy worked in London as a Grocer's Assistant before immigrating - he was in Kalgoorlie working as a Fitter by 1901. In 1903 in Boulder, WA Percy married his first wife Mary Ann Lawrence Touchell (b1878 in Keilli, South Australia). Percy and Mary settled in Kalgoorlie where they raised their family (8 children, although Percy variously stated he had nine or eleven children) and Percy worked as a Miner, Assayer and Timekeeper, and briefly in Northam as a Stock and Station Agent. Following his service in WWI, Percy and Mary settled in Perth, and by 1921 had separated, divorcing in 1933. Percy worked in Perth as a Traveller, Mortgage Broker and Land Salesman and in 1946 remarried to Jean Allday (nee Seaton; b1870 in Inverleigh, Victoria) - Jean had arrived in WA in 1909. Jean died in 1947 and Percy in 1950.
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