SMITH, Herbert Charles
| Service Number: | 2532 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 16 July 1885 |
| Home Town: | Cottesloe, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Pipe moulder |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 2 April 1917, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gosnells Ward Roll of Honor, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2532, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 2532, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Uganda embarkation_ship_number: A66 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 2532, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), HMAT Uganda, Fremantle |
Help us honour Herbert Charles Smith's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Herbert Charles Smith was also known as Charles Bertie Smith. He was born in 1885 at Gympie, Queensland, the son of Edmund Brierly and Katherine (nee Turk) Smith, who had only arrived in Australia the year before. Herbert Charles Smith married Hannah Ions at Claremont, Western Australia in 1914.
His older brother, 3766 Pte. William Bowyer Smith 2nd Australian Pioneers, was later killed in action on 11 March 1918, aged 40.
Herbert proceeded overseas to France on 3 February 1917 and was taken on strength of the 51st Battalion at the front a few days later. He was killed in action on 2 April 1917.
The 51st Battalion made an attack near Noreuil on this day, and suffered about 80 casualties before the objective road was reached. The objective was heavily shelled later which caused more casualties to the 51st Battalion.
Herbert’s wife, Hannah Smith, “The Strand”, Bayswater, was awarded a pension at the rate of 40/- per fortnight, and for Edmund Charles, son, of the same address at the rate of 20/- per fortnight.