SMITH, Roy Leslie
| Service Number: | 1971 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 January 1916, Casula, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 59th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia, 27 October 1899 |
| Home Town: | Canterbury, Canterbury, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Dairy hand |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 14 December 1916, aged 17 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 31 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1971, Casula, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 May 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1971, 59th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
| 4 May 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1971, 59th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Lincoln, Melbourne | |
| 14 Dec 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1971, 59th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Roy Leslie Smith's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Peter Rankin
"1971 Private Roy Leslie Smith, 59th Battalion, of Canterbury, NSW, son of Isaac and Fanny Smith. A dairyhand prior to enlisting at Casula, NSW on 31 January 1916, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Port Lincoln (A17) on 4 May 1916. He was killed in action on 14 December 1916 in France, aged 19. He has no known grave and is remembered with honour on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
Roy was actually only 17 years of age when he was killed in action, being just 16 years and 3 months old at time of enlistment.
His epitaph reads:
HE FOUGHT FOR HONOUR AND FOR RIGHT, A SOLDIER TO THE CORE,
HE DIED FOR KING AND COUNRTY, AND HIS DEATH WE NOW DEPLORE,
THERE'S A CERTAIN CONSOLATION, WHICH CANNOT BE DENIED,
HE WAS A TRUE-BORN AUSTRAL SON, AND EARNED HIS COUNTRY'S PRIDE.
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