SMYTHE, William Alexander
| Service Number: | 5209 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Millers Point, New South Wales, Australia, 3 April 1882 |
| Home Town: | Millers Point, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Porter and Night Officer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 18 April 1917, aged 35 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lebucquiere Communal Cemetery Extension, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Municipality of Waterloo Roll of Service No 4 |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 5209, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Makarini embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 5209, 4th Infantry Battalion, SS Makarini, Sydney | |
| 18 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 5209, 4th Infantry Battalion, Wounded with shrapnel to his left arm. Treated at the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance, the 44th Casualty Clearing Station, No. 9 Ambulance Train, the 3rd Canadian General Hospital and the 7th Convalescent Depot. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
William Alexander SMYTHE (Service Number 5209) was born 3rd April 1882 at Miller’s Point. He worked in the Traffic Branch of the Railways in the Sydney District as a temporary junior porter. From 27th August 1902 he worked for 289 days. Then from 16th December 1903 he worked for 99 days and from 25th March 1905, for 621 days. When he reached 21-years-old his job title was changed to porter.
Still as a temporary, he relocated to the Murrurundi District from 29th May 1907. After a short time, on 12th August 1907 he achieved permanent status. In 1909 he progressed to night officer at Liddell and then Birumba, Hartley Vale and Emu Plains. He resigned in February 1913.
On 9th January 1914 he was employed again in Sydney, once again as a temporary porter,. By the end of the month he became permanent and remained in that role until 4th December 1915 when he was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces. He had enlisted at Casula a few days before.As he was not married he gave his father living in Waterloo as his next of kin.
He was allotted to the 16th Reinforcements to the 4th Battalion. He embarked SS ‘Makarini’ at Sydney on 1st April 1916 and reached Suez on 1st May. By July he had reached England and proceeded overseas to France from the 1st Training Battalion to join the British Expeditionary Force and the 4th Australian Infantry Battalion on 12th August 1916.
On 18th August he was wounded in action with shrapnel to his left arm. He was treated at the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance and then the 44th Casualty Clearing Station, No. 9 Ambulance Train, the 3rd Canadian General Hospital and the 7th Convalescent Depot. By 23rd August he was back at the 1st Division Australian Depot Base at Etaples gaining fitness. However, he contracted venereal disease and was admitted to the 18th General Hospital at Camiers. Treatment took 18 days.
He had recovered from this disease at the beginning of October. At the end of the same month he was admitted to the 51st General Hospital with Stomititis [probably Stomatitis – sores in the mouth]. He re-joined the Battalion on 24th December 1916.
Smythe was killed in action on 18th April 1917. There are numerous reports of his death, all of which are in agreement.
Pte. V.A. Gorman said:
‘Smythe was a cook and on April 18th was working with other men in a cellar near the Railway Station at Velu, cleaning it up for the Quartermaster. Whilst they were working there the cellar was blown up by the explosion of a German mine. I helped to dig out the bodies of the men killed, Smythe and 11 others. Smythe’s body was in a mangled heap and only recognised by his disc. He was buried at Velu near the Railway and the usual cross put up. Smythe was a great friend of mine. He lived at George St., Sydney [Waterloo] and used to work on the railway there as a Night Officer.’
Pte. D. Ryan (4598) was more specific of Smythe’s injuries:
‘He was blown to pieces and I believe there was nothing to bury’,
Pte. Patrick McGrath (1988) explained the mechanism:
‘..it was mined, and they had used it for a month before the mine exploded.’
Pte. A Purches (5183) made the obvious deduction:
‘Smythe touched the spring of the mine trap left by the Germans, which exploded and killed him instantly, blowing him to pieces.’
The contemporary records show Smythe as buried in the Railway Cemetery, Velu, 5½ miles E of Bapaume, while the Australian War Memorial shows Lebucquière Communal Cemetery Extension. From the eye-witness accounts both records may be fanciful, though there is record of exhumation and re-interment after the War.
A pension of £2 per fortnight was awarded to Smythe’s mother Maria – 31 George St, Waterloo from 4th July 1917.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Statiion Honour Board.