Horace George SMITH

Horace George SMITH Update Details

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SMITH, Horace George

Service Number:	958
Enlisted:	20 April 1915
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	2nd Machine Gun Battalion
Born:	Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 28 September 1894
Home Town:	Launceston, Launceston, Tasmania
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Carpenter
Died:	Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 1 July 1960, aged 65 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Carr Villa Memorial Park, Tasmania
Memorials:

20 Apr 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 958, 26th Infantry Battalion
29 Jun 1915:	Involvement Private, 958, 26th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: ''
29 Jun 1915:	Embarked Private, 958, 26th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Brisbane
14 Mar 1916:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 958, 7th Machine Gun Company, embarked Alexandria for Marseilles
20 Feb 1917:	Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 958, 7th Machine Gun Company, France – SW thigh
21 Sep 1917:	Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 958, 7th Machine Gun Company, France – Shell Wound shoulder
4 Jul 1918:	Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 958, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, France – Gun Shot Wound shoulder
1 Aug 1919:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 958, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, embarked Liverpool for Melbourne on board HT Argyllshire
28 Nov 1919:	Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 958, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion

Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Private Horace George Smith (Service No:958) enlisted in the AIF on 20 April 1915, and was attached to 26th Infantry Battalion on 29 June 1915 when he embarked with his Unit from Brisbane for the Middle East on board HMAT A60 Aeneas. On 23 February 1916, Private WG Massey (Service No:2577) wrote to Horace's sister Norah from Egypt, saying 'I have met your brother Horace he is in the school studying for the maxium gun section and he is doing very well at it, the scchool is only about a couple of hundred yards from my hut so he came up the other night and we had a good old yarn he is well and in good health and says he is having a good time here' (Courtesy Deborah Smith). Private Smith was attached to 7th Machine Gun Coy on 14 March 1916 when he embarked with his Unit from Alexandria for Marseilles where he served on the Western Front. Private Smith was WiA on three occasions in France - in 1917 and 1918 - suffering Shell Wounds to his thigh and shoulder, and a Gun Shot Wound to his arm. Private Smith embarked from Liverpool for Melbourne on 1 August 1919 on board HT Argyllshire, and was attached to 2nd Machine Gun Battalion at Discharge on 28 November 1919.

Horace was born in Launceston, Tasmania in 1894, second of four children of William Smith (b1864 in Breadalbane, Tasmania) and his second wife Ellen (Nellie) Mohr (b1865 in Longford, Tasmania). William (a Blacksmith and Widow with three children) and Nellie married in 1892 in Launceston, where they settled and raised their family and William was a Blacksmith.

Horace completed an apprenticeship as a Carpenter and served in the Naval Cadets before enlisting in the AIF. Following his Discharge, Horace returned to Launceston where, in 1920, he was working as a Carpenter when he married Rachel Green (b1895 at Mole Creek via Deloraine, Tasmania). Horace and Rachel settled at Mole Creek, where they raised their family and Horace worked as a Carpenter and Builder. Horace died in 1960 and Rachel in 1978.

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