SMITH, Edwin Jabez
| Service Number: | 3936 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, 1891 |
| Home Town: | Armidale, Armidale Dumaresq, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Boorolong Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Grazier |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 5 August 1916 |
| 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 |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3936, 20th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 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
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Edwin Jabez Smith was the son of Charles and Elizabeth Smith, of Boorolong, Armidale, New South Wales.
His younger brother, 2025 Trooper Cecil Alfred Smith joined up in 1916 with the 12th Light Horse Regiment and was posted to the 4th Machine Gun Squadron in the Middle East. He was sent home in late 1917 with chronic dysentery. He died not long after in the Randwick Military Hospital, from a ruptured bowel and dysentery.
Another brother, 1446 Pte. Edward Smith 12th Light Horse Regiment was returned to Australia in July 1919.