SMITH, William Alfred
| Service Number: | 4834 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 January 1916, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Malvern, Victoria, Australia, 24 November 1891 |
| Home Town: | Randwick, Randwick, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tramcar Maintenance Worker (Pitman's Assistant) |
| Died: | Killed in action, Belgium, 20 September 1917, aged 25 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 |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4834, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 4834, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 13 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 4834, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
William Alfred Charles SMITH (Service Number 4834) was born on 24th November 1891 at Malvern, Victoria. He began working for the NSW Tramways as a cleaner of electric trams at Dowling Street Depot form 27th January 1910. In 1912 he relocated to be a labourer at Newtown Depot and then as a pitman’s assistant in Sydney. When he enlisted on 20th January 1916 (or 6 February) at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds at Moore Park in Sydney he was described by the Tramways as a labourer. However, on his papers he gave his calling as a ‘Pitman Assistant’. As his next of kin he nominated his father, Thomas George William Smith of South Randwick.
He was allotted to the 12th Reinforcements of the 17th Battalion. Smith embarked HMAT ‘Ceramic’ at Sydney on 13th April 1916. By May he had reached Egypt and re-embarked HMT ‘Megantic’ at Alexandria on 28th May to continue the journey to Plymouth (England) where he arrived on 7th June. He was initially allocated to the 5th Training Battalion. He proceeded overseas to France on 10th September and joined the 17th Battalion in Belgium on 21st September 1916. He was promoted to Lance Corporal in March 1917.
In May 1917 he was wounded with a gunshot to his chest, arm and left shoulder and admitted to the 3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station and the 6th General Hospital at Rouen. As he recovered he was transferred to the 2nd Convalescent Depot and the 11th Convalescent Depot at Buchy.
He re-joined his Battalion on 1st August. He was reported as wounded again on 20th September, though this was changed to killed in action within a few days.
Smith was buried in the vicinity of Westhoek and Anzac Ridge, Passchendaele. The only report of the death may be by W Winney (3476):
‘Between 2/27 Nov.1917, we buried 2 men at Polygon Wood, who had apparently [been] lying out since that stunt. One had no clue to identification, the other had disc with name of Smith, 17th Battn. and number. I forget Christian name, but remember Battn. and as far as No. I believe it was in the 4,000. We put up a bayonet with tin hat on, but no other mark. We reported to an Engineer Officer who was there at the time, don’t know his name. I think the disc has not been handed in and was lost. I can’t say who got the disc.’
After the war the location of this grave could not be established, and Smith thus has no known grave. He is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.