SMITH, Frank Ernest
| Service Number: | 4584 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 November 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 4th Division Headquarters |
| Born: | Huonville, Tasmania, Australia, 18 March 1891 |
| Home Town: | Colebrook, Southern Midlands, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 9 November 1971, aged 80 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Huonville School Pictorial HR |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4584, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 4584, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 4584, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Melbourne | |
| 19 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 52nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 15 Feb 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 4th Division Headquarters | |
| 1 Nov 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 4th Division Headquarters |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Frank Ernest Smith was one of four sons and three daughters of William Ernest and Letitia Smith, of Huonville, Tasmania. All the boys enlisted and served overseas during WW1, two of them lost their lives, and one was decorated for bravery.
Frank enlisted with his brother Ivan during late 1915 and they were given consecutive regimental numbers in the 12th Battalion. When they arrived in Egypt, they were transferred to the 52nd Battalion.
Frank was wounded in the foot at Pozieres on 10 August 1916. He returned to his unit a fortnight later and during 1917 he was transferred to 4th Division Headquarters. He was eventually returned to Australia during May 1919.
His brother 4585 Pte Ivan Lance Smith MM also returned to Australia in 1919. His brothers, 4601 Pte Keith Lawrence Smith also of the 52nd Battalion AIF, died of wounds on 17 August 1916 and 952 Corporal Claude Huon Smith 26th Battalion AIF, was killed in action in Belgium in 1917.
Frank married in Tasmania during 1921 and raised two sons, one of whom was named Claude, after his uncle.
On the death of his father in 1927, William Ernest Smith, who had owned a large orchard in Huonville and lived in the area for most of his life before he died at 68, the local newspaper reported “He reared a family of four sons and three daughters. All four of the sons took part in the war, two of them being killed. The loss of his two sons and the anxiety for the safe return of the others greatly impaired Mr. Smith's health.”
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