SMITH, Henry
| Service Number: | 3290 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 September 1915, Enlisted in Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 5th (Divisional) Medium and Heavy Trench Mortar Batteries, AIF |
| Born: | Glasgow, Scotland, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Balmain, Leichhardt, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tramway Electrical Branch Worker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 1 February 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Guards Cemetery, Lesboeufs, Picardie XII AA 3 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3290, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted in Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 3290, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suevic embarkation_ship_number: A29 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 3290, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suevic, Sydney | |
| 29 Jun 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Gunner, 5th (Divisional) Medium and Heavy Trench Mortar Batteries, AIF, Transferred on the Western Front. | |
| 1 Feb 1917: | Involvement Gunner, 3290, 5th (Divisional) Medium and Heavy Trench Mortar Batteries, AIF, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3290 awm_unit: 5th Division Trench Mortar Battery Australian Field Artillery awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-02-01 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Henry SMITH was born on 31st July 1892 at Oban, near Glasgow, Scotland. He first worked for the Sydney Tramways as a cleaner at North Sydney from 12th September 1912. In the middle of 1913 he was working in the same role in Sydney, and later in that year as a labourer. He worked in the Tramways Electrical Branch.
Smith enlisted at Sydney on 8 September 1915. He claimed to have been apprenticed to A Giles in Glasgow for four years but did not specify the trade. As he was unmarried he gave his father, also Henry Smith, as his next of kin. He was initially allotted to the 17th Battalion. Smith embarked HMAT ‘Suevic’ at Sydney on 20th December 1915. When he reached Egypt in 1917 he was allotted to the 55th Battalion. He was also immediately admitted to the Field Ambulance and the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station with ‘Inoculation Sickness’.
In June 1916 he embarked ‘Caledonian’ at Alexandria for passage to France and the Western Front. He passed through Marseilles on 29th June. On 6th July he was transferred to Y5A Medium Trench Mortar Battery at Sailly and his rank was changed to ‘Gunner’. In November 1916 he was on Command at the 5th Division Artillery Column. While there he was admitted to the 11th Stationary Hospital with Pleurisy. It was 23rd December before he could re-join his unit. On Christmas Day 1916 he was in hospital with Colic. In January 1917 he was detached to the 13th Field Artillery Brigade and then sent to the 4th Army Trench Mortar School.
He was back with his own unit on 29th January.
He was killed in action on 1st February 1917. He was with the 5th Australian Division Trench Mortars when he died. He was buried 1-mile South West of Le Transloy, 3½ miles SSE of Bapaume.
After the war this grave was located, and Smith’s remains exhumed and re-interred in Guards Cemetery Les Bouefs 4½ miles S of Bapaume.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.