SMITH, Mower Mordecai
| Other Name: | SMITH, Zahrah Hugh Mower - Alternate name on deceased estate |
|---|---|
| Service Number: | 710 |
| Enlisted: | 20 March 1915, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 24th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Huntingford, England, 1884 |
| Home Town: | Allambee, Baw Baw, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | 1 February 1938, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery, Victoria Church Of England R, Grave 1351 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 710, 24th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 May 1915: | Involvement Private, 710, 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 10 May 1915: | Embarked Private, 710, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Mower Mordecai Smith (Reg No 4475) was born in Huntingford, Gloucestershire England in 1884 to Joshua a farmer and his wife Mary. He was Baptised at Tortworth Church of England, Gloucestershire on the 27th of March 1891 along with his brothers Swinbourne Organ, Bevis Collins, Grantley Bernard and Joshua John. In 1898 aged 14, Mower joined the Royal Navy commencing at HMS Impregnable, a training facility in Devonport (Devon). His initial rank was Boy 2nd Class.
The 1901 Census shows him to be aged 17, a Boy First Class aboard HMS Amphion, 2nd Class Cruiser under Captain John Casement RN,
Stationed in the Pacific off Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1902 he was appointed to Able-bodied Seaman, whilst on the Amphion. He
purchased his release from the Royal Navy on 12th October 1909. 9th of November 1909, Mower aged 26 and his brother Grantley (an engineer) departed London on the “Wilcannia” bound for Melbourne. Mower’s occupation is listed as clerk. Their brother Joshua John Smith followed them the following year, departing London on the “Geelong” on 13th October 1910. Mower and his brothers took up a lease of 140 acres, Lot 12 on the Allambee Estate, adjacent to the Tarwin River and became dairy farmers. Grantley and Joshua farmed there until around 1945; Grantley died in Dec 1947 in Warragul and Joshua in 1958 in Bairnsdale. They have no direct descendants that I can locate.
In August 1914 Mower enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (Reg No. 264) which was the first military unit raised in 1914 for service overseas, after Britain entered the war. They captured and occupied German New Guinea and Nauru in September 1914.
He enlisted in the 24th Battalion 20th March 1915, described as 5’9” dark complexion with black hair and brown eyes. He embarked from Melbourne on V Euripides on 10th May 1915, subsequently transferred to the 5th Pioneer Battalion in May 1916, and then the 5th Machine Gun Battalion in May 1918, returning to Australia on 3rd September 1919. Mower was wounded at Gallipoli, sustaining a bullet wound to the groin and just below his heart (classed as not serious), before receiving a bullet wound to his abdomen 9 days later on 27/9/1916. He was discharged from the AIF on 9th March 1920 medically unfit due to Malaria and Otitis Media.
After his return from WWI, Mower returned to the Allambee Estate for a period (1921 Electoral Roll) before moving to Melbourne, living in Flagstaff Gardens (1924) his occupation is that of healer (1922 Electoral Roll) and then to Carlton in 1925 where he is listed as a magnetic healer.
He died 1st February 1938 and is buried at Fawkner Memorial Park.
Courtesy of AVenel