Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Thomas Hodge-Smith was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, on 27th October 18941 with his family moving to Australia when he was two years old. Thomas Hodge-Smith’s father, Reverend Michael Smith, was a Presbyterian minister and worked at various different places within New South Wales. The rest of the family lived in Double Bay, Sydney, where most of Smith’s boyhood was spent. He attended the many educational facilities which included Scots' College, the Sydney Technical College, the Sydney Technical High School and the University of Sydney.2 When Smith finished his schooling, he left to work with a firm of engineers and then in the State Public Service.3  He was offered a cadetship in the Geological Survey of New South Wales.4 In 1913, Smith became assistant to G. W. Card who was the curator of the Mining Museum, with his sister, Mrs. C. D. Cotton, having a large influence on his selection of mineralogy as his life's work. Smith’s sister was a crystallographer which meant they were working in the same department of science, and the two remained very close companions throughout their lives.5

Hodge-Smith enlisted in August 1914 and he left for war the same month he enlisted.6   Smith was ranked sapper in the 4th Field Company Engineers. He also fought under the Royal Australian Naval Reserve as a petty officer but eventually reaching the rank of Sub-Lieutenant.7 Smith fought in Rabaul, “German New Guinea” and also in Villers-Bretonneux.8 During Smith’s service in Germany New Guinea he contracted Blackwater Fever, which almost killed him. Due to Smith’s sickness, he was invalided back to Sydney, where he spent some time in recovery.9 During his convalescence, he took the time to further his training and rose to the rank of Sub-Lieutenant and contemplated becoming a career soldier. After his service in the Navy, Smith transferred to the A.I.F and served in France as a sapper.10 He took part in the battle at Villers-Bretonneux but his service was cut short due to injury on the battlefield. While fighting in Villers, a bursting shell severely injured his leg, and killed everyone in his immediate radius.11

Thomas Hodge-Smith survived the war, but due to many diseases he was invalided back to Australia. After the war, he resumed his work in the mining museum, but in 1919 he left to join the staff of the Australian Museum. In 1921, Smith took the position of mineralogist, succeeding Dr C. Anderson, who became the director. From 1925 up until his death in 1945, Smith was a teacher of mineralogy at Sydney Technical College.12 In 1935-41, Hodge-Smith was editor for the Australian National Research Council’s publication, “Australian Science Abstracts”. In 1933 Hodge-Smith rose to the high office of the President of the Public Service Association.13 Smith held this office for approximately three years. Hodge Smith fought for the rights of Civil servants and against salary cuts during the economic depression. For the most part of Smith’s life after the war, he devoted his time towards scientific research and was a member of a number of significant communities such as the Royal Society of New South Wales and also a member of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, the Australian Association of Scientific Workers  and the Museums and Art Galleries Association of Australia and New Zealand.14 A few weeks before his death, Hodge-Smith began a new series of investigations into meteorites, with his unfinished research yet to be completed.

By Eugene Hui

Sydney Technical High School

1.           Anonymous, 1946. Thomas Hodge-Smith 1894–1945. Records of the Australian Museum 21(7): 377–379, portrait. [24 June 1946].

2.           Ibid

3.           Ibid

4.           Ibid

5.           Ibid

6.           Anonymous. Thomas Hodge-Smith Records 1894-1945. Discovering Anzacs. National Archives of Australia

7.           Anonymous, 1946. Thomas Hodge-Smith 1894–1945. Records of the Australian Museum 21(7): 377–379, portrait. [24 June 1946].

8.            Anonymous. 1935. Thomas Hodge-Smith 1894-1945. Honour Board Project. Word Document 1

9.            Anonymous, 1946. Thomas Hodge-Smith 1894–1945. Records of the Australian Museum 21(7): 377–379, portrait. [24 June 1946].

10.           Ibid

11.           Ibid

12.           Ibid

13.           Anonymous. 1935. Thomas Hodge-Smith 1894-1945. Honour Board Project. Image 5.

14.         Anonymous, 1946. Thomas Hodge-Smith 1894–1945. Records of the Australian Museum 21(7): 377–379, portrait. [24 June 1946].