SMITH, John Stephen
| Service Number: | 6142 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 June 1916, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 19th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dungog, New South Wales, Australia, 15 August 1890 |
| Home Town: | Dungog, Dungog, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tramway Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 3 May 1917, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Jun 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6142, 19th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney. | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 6142, 19th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 6142, 19th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
John Stephen SMITH (Service Number 6142) was born on 15th August 1890 at Dungog. He was as a temporary labourer with the electric trams in Sydney from 18th October 1915. His Attestation Papers show that he enlisted at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds at Moore Paak in Sydney on 20th June 1916. He gave his mother, Mary Ann Smith of Bandon Grove via Dungog as his next of kin.
He was allotted to the 17th Reinforcements to the 19th Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Ascanius’ at Sydney on 25th October 1916 and reached Devonport (England) on 28th December. He joined the 5th Training Battalion at Rollestone. He proceeded overseas to France through Folkestone on 20th March 1917 and was taken on strength of the 19th Battalion on 31st March.
On 3rd May 1917 he was posted missing in action. A Court of Enquiry, held in December 1917, determined that he had in fact been killed in action that day. He has no known grave. He is remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France.
A pension of £2 per fortnight was awarded from 4th August 1917 to his widowed mother, Mary Ann.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Hohnour Board.