SMITH, Henry Tuson
| Service Number: | 3909 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1915, Enlisted at Warwick Farm. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Lillimur, Victoria, Australia, 14 March 1888 |
| Home Town: | Darlinghurst, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tinsmith, Signalling Branch of NSW Railways |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 5 October 1917, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3909, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Warwick Farm. | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3909, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Medic embarkation_ship_number: A7 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3909, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Medic, Sydney |
Help us honour Henry Tuson Smith's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Henry Tuson SMITH, (Service Number 3909) was born on 14th March 1888 at Lillimur, Victoria. He was appointed as a temporary tinsmith in the Signalling Branch of the NSW Railways on 1st September 1913.
He enlisted at Warwick Farm on 17th August 1915 and gave his auntie, Mrs Mary Lord of Alberton, Victoria as his next of kin. On 19th November he married Alice Daly and she became his next of kin. He was allotted to the 12th Reinforcements to the 3rd Battalion.
Smith embarked HMAT ‘Medic’ at Sydney on 30thDecember 1915. He arrived in Egypt early on 1916. After some training he embarked ‘Transylvania’ at Alexandria for passage to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France, passing through Marseilles on 4th April. He was taken on the strength of the 3rd Battalion on 25th May.
In January 1917 he was sick at the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance with fever. Although he returned to his unit in February the fever (of unknown origin) persisted.He spent time at the 45th Casualty Clearing Station, the 1st General Hospital and the 4th Convalescent Depot before returning to the Battalion in April.
In May 1917 he was wounded with a gunshot to his eye and admitted to No. 2 and then No. 11 Convalescent Depots. He was fit to return to his unit in June.
In August he had leave in the UK.
He was killed in action in Belgium on 5th October 1917. Pte. R H Shepherd (3901A) reported:
‘I saw him killed by concussion just alongside of me in the trench at Brodseinde. A shell landed on the parados and we were both knocked over and buried. I was none the worse but he was dead when I uncovered him. I buried him there and we put a temporary cross with his name &c in indelible pencil.’
The location of this grave was subsequently lost, and Smith is now remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
A pension of £2 per fortnight was awarded to his widow, Alice, from 25th December 1917. On 18th October 1919 Alice re-married, to James Boyle, a New Zealand war veteran.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.