SMITH, Edwin Jabez
| Service Number: | 3936 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Armidale, Armidale Dumaresq, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 5 August 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Armidale Memorial Fountain, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3936, 20th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3936, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney |
Edwin Jabez Smith
Edwin was born to Charles and Elizabeth Smith in 1891. He attended Boorolong School and then worked as a farmer on his family farm "Box Hill", Armidale, NSW
He enlisted on the 15th August, 1915, to serve "King and Country". He sailed on board HMAT Runic from Sydney on 20th January 1916. The ship arrived in Alexandria where he disembarked on 26th February 1916. His Battalion proceeded to Marseilles, France. He was "Taken on Strength" on the 5th April 1916. He was fighting in Poziers, when he was killed in action at the front.
Due to the constant change of the front, both back and forward, his body has never been recovered.
According to Military records, his personal effects were returned to his " next of Kin", Charles Smith. These included his identification tags, a photo, a letter and his note book. These arrived in Melbourne on board "HMS Benalla" in April 1917.
His family was presented with a plaque and a message from the King of England on 22nd September, 1922.
His memory is marked in the Villers-Bretonneux memorial Cemetery
Submitted 30 March 2017 by Lee Gowen