HAMILTON, Herbert Smerdon
| Service Number: | 663 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 May 1915, attested on board Troopship Ascanius in Fremantle WA |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 26th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 3 July 1898 |
| Home Town: | Midland Junction, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Office Boy |
| Died: | Christchurch, New Zealand, 11 March 1969, aged 70 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Canterbury Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, New Zealand |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 26 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Bugler, 663, 26th Infantry Battalion, attested on board Troopship Ascanius in Fremantle WA | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Aug 1918: | Wounded Bugler, 663, 26th Infantry Battalion, France - shell wound to shoulder | |
| 28 Feb 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 663, 26th Infantry Battalion | |
| 3 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 663, 26th Infantry Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Bugler, 663, 26th Infantry Battalion |
Biography by John Stackhouse
Herbert (Herb, later Tony) Hamilton stowed away aboard the 'Ascanius' on 10 June 1915. He was found later that day and parents were contacted by wireless telegraph as to whether they would give permission for him to be enlisted. They gave permission and he was duly 'attested' and given a 'medical aboard ship. His attestation papers are completely hand written, questions as well as Herbert's answers, as there were clearly no original unfilled papers aboard. There were seven stowaways aboard the 'Ascanius', six were in training from Blackboys Camp Western Australia, four were taken on strength with 26 Bn and two were returned to Australia.
Herbert Hamilton confirmed that he was on Gallipoli Peninsula from September 1915. This was passed on to me by a good friend and neighbour of Herbert's who spoke with me about him being a boy soldier in 1915. Herbert was 16 at the time he stowed away.
Submitted 29 December 2023 by John Stackhouse
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Herbert was the eldest of six children of John Andrew Craig Hamilton (b1871 in New Zealand) and Herbertine Mary Agnes Smerdon (b1871 in Sulky Gully, Victoria). John - a Labourer - and Herbertine were in Perth WA when their first son was born in 1898, then moved to Jarradale, WA before returning to Miner's Rest, Victoria in 1905. By 1909 the family had returned to WA, where John and Herbertine married in 1911. They settled at Midland Junction, WA where John worked as a Labourer and Engine Driver, before moving to Perth.
Herbert was an Office Boy with Gordon and Gotch in 1915, and had served with the Senior Cadets 89th Battalion for three years. He was determined to enlist despite his age and small stature and in June 1916, Herbert stowed away on the Troopship Arcanius in Fremantle. Captain Chimes sent a radiogram to Herbert's father John on 10 June 1915 'Your son Herbert Hamilton stowed away on board Arcanius Troop Ship this afternoon. Do you consent to his enlistment in Expeditionary Force as Bugler. Commanding Officer will take with your consent' (National Archives Australia)
In 1916 Herbert wrote his parents 'Just a few lines to let you know I am still alive .... I spent my last birthday in a camp in Egypt and this one in a trench in Belgium. I was just thinking to myself where I would spend the next one, whether it would be in Australia or in Belgium with a cross over me..... I think that we will be back for Christmas ..... At present there are rumours flying everywhere that we, 'the Anzacs', are going to advance'. (National Archives Australia)
Herbert had written that he was receiving no mail, and on 13 July 1916 Herbertina wrote to the Officer in Charge Base Records '....Yet by last mail from the Front I had a letter returned stamped across on Base Records it has made me anxious, knowing the dangerous Zone he is in. As long as I know that if anything should happen to him, I will hear the same as the rest of our soldiers I can be content'.
In August 1918 Herbert was WiA in France (Shell Wound to the shoulder) and was Discharged in June 1919. Brother Len (Private; Service No:21772) also served in WWI.
Herbert worked in Perth and regionally when he returned from WWI and was living in Christchurh, New Zealand when he married Clarisse Joyce Watson (b1911 in Christchurch, New Zealand) in 1964. Herbert died in 1969 and Clarisse in 1989.