Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Raymond Edward Smith - Private 1339

Raymond Edward Smith, or private 1339, was one of the many brave Australian Soldiers who fought in the First World War. Smith, born in 1898, enlisted at the young age of 17 and was sent to fight in many major battles at Gallipoli and France. Smith, who was part of the 18th Infantry Battalion and the 54th Battalion, underwent many challenges both before and during the war physically and emotionally making his story one of perseverance and ingenuity

Raymond Edward Smith, born in February 1898, faced many hardships growing up making his early life quite difficult. Smith, born to John Hunter Smith and Clara M. Smith in Neutral Bay, New South Wales, lived in Mosman until his mother unfortunately passed away in 1908. This was some time after his father died. As a result, he was orphaned and his older brother, William George Smith became his guardian and next of kin. In school, Smith received excellent marks in many subjects, predominantly mathematics, drawing and English History. He received the second year division II Sydney Tech Boy’s award, an intermediate certificate and a junior technical scholarship in 1911. Smith joined the senior cadets in which he became a second lieutenant, giving him experience of what it was like to be a soldier. He was 5'2, the minimum age for enlistment and weighed 128 pounds. Smith worked as a clerk at Agency Co. Ltd and also worked as a shire clerk for the Dorrigo Shire Council. Despite being underage and barely meeting the physical requirements, Smith still volunteered to go to war. As he was 17 at the time of enlistment when you need to be 18 to enlist, he was not technically allowed to join the war and had to lie about his age to enlist. 

Raymond Edward Smith’s experience during the war was marked by many hospitalisations and injuries which resulted in his eventual discharge. Smith was enlisted on the 8th of March 1915 and later embarked on the 25th of June. He was first wounded in the chest on the 31st of August 1915 during the attack of Hill 60. This was a major battle which Australia took part in and Smith became one of the 1,100 casualties. He admitted to hospital in Malta.

Msith was transferred to hospital in Tel el Kebir 13 January 1916 and was disgnosed with Sunovitis later that month and was transferred to the No 3 Auxilary Hospital in Heliopolis (1). He recovered and was transferred to the 54th battalion to fight on the Western Front disembarking at Marseilles 29th June 1916. He then received severe gunshot wounds to his legs on the 20th of July 1916 while fighting in France. He was transferred to England for further treatment. In April 1917 he was transferred to a communications depot and he served at various depots in England for the remainder of the war.

His older brother and next of kin, William, was not notified of his wounds and expressed his frustration to the military in his letter which wrote “We have just had a letter from Private Ray E. Smith No 1339 54th Batt. telling us he was wounded three times in France & has had to be operated on & yet we have had notification to this effect from the Dept. He is in R.A. Queen Mary Hospital, Essex. I have no doubt you have an enormous number of wounded on your records but there must be some defect in your system that a serious case like this is not reported.” (2) This letter was likely a reflection of many families during the time, highlighting the anxiety people felt during the First World War.

On the 2nd of December 1918 went on medical leave and was later discharged due to his wounded leg. This marked the end of Raymond Edward Smith’s brave and painful journey through the first world war which was controlled by many unfortunate hospitalisations and injuries.

Following the end of World War 1, Smith returned home to Australia and returned to his occupation as a clerk. He arrived home on the transport ship Marvada on the 1st of February 1919 (4) but still suffered from his gunshot wound. He was then officially discharged from the military on the 28th of April 1919. Smith was able to quickly reintegrate into society as he went on to become a local justice of peace in Corambar but also resumed his previous occupation as a shire clerk. Further details about his life after war are unclear, like marriage and children. Raymond Edward Smith died on the 3rd of May 1955 at the age of 57 in 1955. Thus, though being discharged from the army, Raymond Edward Smith continued serving the people and passed away in 1955.

Bibliography
Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive [Accessed 8 Aug. 2025].

Vwma.org.au. (2025). Raymond Edward SMITH. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/212944 [Accessed 8 Aug. 2025]. 

Naa.gov.au. (2015). Record Search Raymond Edward Smith. [online] Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcod e=1787427&isAv=N [Accessed 7 Sep. 2025].

End Notes
(1) Spanned from the 26th of December 1915 to the 14th of March 1916 

(2). From the NAA records, a letter sent from William George Smith to the military 

(3) Spanned from the 29th of January 1917 to 20th of October 1917 

(4) This was the final record from his time at war