SMITH, Ivan Lance
| Service Number: | 4585 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 November 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Huonville, Tasmania, Australia, 17 March 1897 |
| Home Town: | Colebrook, Southern Midlands, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 11 October 1962, aged 65 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cornelian Bay Cemetery and Crematorium, Tasmania |
| Memorials: | Huonville School Pictorial HR |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4585, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Feb 1916: | Involvement Private, 4585, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 8 Feb 1916: | Embarked Private, 4585, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Warilda, Melbourne | |
| 19 Apr 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4585, 52nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 17 Oct 1917: | Honoured Military Medal, Broodseinde Ridge |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Ivan Lance Smith was the youngest of four sons and three daughters of William Ernest and Letitia Smith, of Huonville, Tasmania. All the boys enlisted and served overseas during WW1, two of them lost their lives, and Ivan was decorated for bravery.
Ivan enlisted with his brother Frank during late 1915 and they were given consecutive regimental numbers in the 12th Battalion. He had to have the permission of his parents to do so. When they arrived in Egypt, they were transferred to the 52nd Battalion.
Ivan was wounded in action on 1 April 1917, a gunshot to the left arm, and was evacuated to England. After recovery he rejoined his unit during October 1917.
Soon after he was awarded a Military Medal, “This soldier employed as a runner during the time his Battalion was in the line on Broodseinde Ridge in October, 1917. The area which he had to traverse between his Company and Battalion Headquarters was at all hours of the day and night subjected to heavy shell fire, and other means of communication were frequently impossible owing to telephone lines being repeatedly broken. On the night 16th/17th October, 1917, in particular the work done by Private Smith was exceptionally good, and called for a very high standard of courage and devotion to duty.”
He was transferred to the 51st Battalion in May 1918 due to the disbandment of the 52nd Battalion at that time. He was returned to Australia during April 1919.
His brothers, 4601 Pte Keith Lawrence Smith also of the 52nd Battalion AIF, died of wounds on 17 August 1916 and 952 Corporal Claud Huon Smith 26th Battalion AIF, was killed in action in Belgium in 1917.
On the death of his father in 1927, William Ernest Smith, who had owned a large orchard in Huonville and lived in the area for most of his life before he died at 68, the local newspaper reported “He reared a family of four sons and three daughters. All four of the sons took part in the war, two of them being killed. The loss of his two sons and the anxiety for the safe return of the others greatly impaired Mr. Smith's health.”
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