SMITH, Ernest Hilmer
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Last Unit: | 12th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | New Norfolk, Tasmania, Australia, 29 May 1878 |
| Home Town: | Sandy Bay, Hobart, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bank Superintendent |
| Died: | Gangrene of the right foot and complications of Diabetes, Sydney, NSW, 18 November 1958, aged 80 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Hobart Roll of Honour, Lindisfarne Officers of the 12th Battalion Pictorial Honour Roll, Sydney Reserve Bank of Australia (Commonwealth Bank) Honor Roll WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Captain, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Captain, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Hobart | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Captain, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Hobart embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 4 Aug 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Major, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
| 26 Jan 1916: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, ANZAC / Gallipoli, 27 January 1916 on page 156 at position 130 | |
| 27 Jan 1916: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, ANZAC / Gallipoli, 27 January 1916 on page 157 at position 31 | |
| 16 Oct 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant Colonel, 11th Infantry Battalion | |
| 18 Aug 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant Colonel, 12th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Virtual Australia
Ernest Hilmer Smith was 36 years old and Superintendent of the Commonwealth Bank's Hobart branch when he enlisted on 21 August 1914, the same day as his colleague Vivian Brooke.
Through luck, design or destiny, he was assigned initially as a Captain and ultimately as a Commanding Officer of the 12th Battalion, the very same Battalion that his Commonwealth Bank workmate Vivian Brooke had joined.
Reported to have led his company of the 12th ashore at Gallipoli on the morning of 25 April and up the ridge to what became known as ‘Bloody Angle’, as the enemy resistance stiffened, Smith sent his men to fill the gaps in the Anzac firing line that had formed almost 1 kilometre inland. In a letter home published in several Tasmanian newspapers, he described the ‘warm welcome’ they received from the enemy:
There was no time or opportunity for organising, we just had to climb up hills – something like those round the Cataract Gorge, only much steeper, and covered with prickly scrub, which tore our clothes and hands. Our casualties during the first hour were very heavy.
His correspondence from the front written to the Bank's Governor, Denison Miller, was not only poignant but at times poetic, humorous and heartbreaking. His letters provide a firsthand account of the realities of war and a unique insight into the warmth, humility and strength of character Lieutenant Colonel Smith possessed, along with a deep appreciation of the pastoral care afforded to the Bank's staff by the Governor.
Mentioned in dispatches which resulted in him being awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB), he remained with the 12th Battalion for most of the arduous months of the Gallipoli campaign before being transferred to the 11th Battalion and ultimately to 1st Commandant of the Australian Imperial Force training brigade. He saw further action in France and Belgium during 1916 and 1917 and suffered from chronic dysentery through most of his service.
Lieutenant Colonel Smith embarked for Australia from England in May 1918. He resumed his position with the Commonwealth Bank, being promoted to Superintendent of Victoria on his return and ultimately being appointed by the Governor as the Bank's Superintendent for New South Wales in 1925. Having survived the First World War and having personally battled several serious illnesses throughout his life, in a credit to his strength and tenacity, Ernest Hilmer Smith reached the age of 80, passing away in Sydney on 18 November 1958 from gangrene of the right foot and complications resulting from diabetes.
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