SMITHIES, Joseph
| Service Number: | 2902 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 June 1915, Liverpool, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Able Seaman |
| Last Unit: | SS Iron Crown |
| Born: | Burnley, England, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Service (ship torpedoed), At sea (off Gabo Island, Victoria), 4 June 1942 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" At Sea |
| Memorials: | Mallacoota S.S. Iron Crown Memorial Plaque, Mallacoota, Victoria, Sydney Memorial (Sydney War Cemetery) Rookwood |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2902, Liverpool, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2902, 4th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2902, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Sydney | |
| 19 Jul 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2902, 56th Infantry Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 30 May 1940: | Enlisted | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jun 1942: | Involvement Merchant Navy, Able Seaman , SS Iron Crown |
Help us honour Joseph Smithies's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was an Able Seaman in the Australian Merchant Navy during WWII. He was lost in the sinking of the S.S. Iron Crown (Sydney) . He was 55 and it is believed he survived WWI during which time, he served as a Private, Service Number 2902,with the 4th Infantry Battalion, A.I.F.
He lived at Woolahra, N.S.W. and gave his NOK as his friend, Ada Taylor of 88 Queen Street there.
In addition to his Official Point of Commemoration [The Sydney Memorial] he is also honoured on the Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll and on the Iron Crown memorial plaque located at Maurice Avenue, Mallacoota, East Gippsland - Victoria, Australia.
This plaque also commemorates the others lost in this incident.
Iron Crown was a Newcastle crewed ship [ 3,353 GRT]built by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow for Broken Hill Proprietary Company, Broken Hill. She was launched on 22 October 1937 as Euroa, before being renamed Iron Crown and was homeported in Sydney under the British Flag.She was owned by Interstate Steamships Pty Ltd.,and was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-27 at 1645 hours in a position 44 nautical miles SSW of Gabo Island, Victoria while on passage from Whyalla to Port Kembla with a cargo of iron ore. The torpedo struck the deeply loaded ship on the port side abaft the bridge and the ship sank quickly in 60 seconds resulting in the loss of 37 or 38 of her 42 man crew. The five survivors were rescued by the British ship S.S. Mulbera. But for a judicious alteration of course BHP’s Iron King sister ship of Iron Chieftain would have been in the exact position to that of the Iron Crown and witnessed the sinking.
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