SMITH, Bert
| Service Number: | 3632 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 August 1915, Claremont, Tas. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia , 29 June 1890 |
| Home Town: | Beaconsfield, West Tamar, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Beaconsfield State School, Tasmania, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Dernancourt, France, 28 March 1918, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial Villers-Bretonneux, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3632, 15th Infantry Battalion, Claremont, Tas. | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3632, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3632, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 28 Mar 1918: | Involvement Private, 3632, 47th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3632 awm_unit: 47th Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-03-28 |
Help us honour Bert Smith's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
Son of John and Jane SMITH, Beaconsfield, Tasmania
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
‘It has been officially reported that Private Bert (Nob) Smith, 47th Battalion, late 15th Battalion, was killed in action on March 28. “Please convey to his mother the deepest regret and sympathy of their Majesties the King and Queen and Commonwealth Government, as well as District Commandant, in the loss sustained by them and the army.”
Private Smith enlisted at Zeehan, and had seen three years' service. He was severely wounded in the Somme battle, and after recovering returned to France. Private Smith was a fine stamp of a soldier, standing 6ft 2in. and when living at Beaconsfield was one of the mainstays of the Rover Football Club. The sympathy of the people of Beaconsfield is extended to Mrs. Smith. Her other son, Charlie, is in France.’
Launceston Daily Telegraph 30 April 1918.
Bert's brother, 2055 Private Charles Alexander Smith 26th Battalion AIF, served for almost four years and returned to Australia in April 1919.
Bert's Red Cross file states he was buried by the Germans, the 228th Regiment, near the railway line at Dernancourt, and they retreived his identity disc and forwarded it to the Allies. The disc was eventually returned to Bert's mother in Tasmania during 1920. His grave could not be found after the war.
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