Virtual
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Australia

Alfred Leslie Smith grew up on a farm near Yankalilla, South Australia.

Before enlisting Alfred was a saddler, making and repairing saddles and other equipment for horses. Alfred was the fifth son of James Smith and Frances (nee Dunstall) and he had three brothers Sergeant George Victor Smith, Sergeant Hubert Roy Smith, Private Eric Ross Smith who were all in the 9th light horse. James Smith was a butcher and Alfred’s next in kin as he was not yet married. In 1914 at the beginning of the war, Alfred tried to enlist by making out that he was 18 years old but was rejected because he was actually younger than this.

After turning 18, he enlisted on the 19th of July 1915 at Goolwa in South Australia. Alfred joined the army because his two elder brothers had left for war in 1914 and he was very patriotic being of British descent. Alfred was part of a mounted rifles regiment, in the 11th reinforcement in the 3rd/ 9th light horse.

Until February 1915 Alfred trained near Melbourne with three-quarters of the regiment from South Australia and the other quarter from Melbourne. Later, on the 27th of October 1915, the 9th light horse regiment left from Melbourne as part of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade on the ship HMAT Ulysses. The Ulysses travelled to Egypt where Alfred did further training in readiness for the desert campaign. 

Alfred went in and out of the Serapeum Hospital in Egypt due to illness from the 3rd to 26th March 1916 two times, returning to duty in between visits.

Even though the 9th Light Horse weren’t involved in the British Victory on the 3rd to the 5th of August 1916 of the Battle of Romani, the regiment was heavily involved in forcing the Turks back across the Sinai desert.

After the battle of Romani, the 9th Light Horse was involved in securing Turkish outposts on the 23rd of December 1916 at the battle of Magdhaba and on the 9th of January 1917 at the Battle of Rafa. Then on the 26th of March to the 19th of April 1917 was the Battle of Gaza, an area that the Turkish were controlling at that time.
Alfred was a trainee Saddler Sergeant on the 21st of June 1917 and two months later was promoted to a Saddler Sergeant in charge of the saddlers. During this time the regiment was in a period of boredom, and patrols were sent out to Wadi Sheria in Israel and the brigade had a general holiday with impromptu aquatics and athletics sport carnivals.

On the 17th to 30th of November 1917, Alfred and his regiment were successful with capturing Jerusalem in the battle of Jerusalem. The 9th Light Horse was involved in the battle of Es Salt raid on the 30th of April to the 3rd of May 1918. The raid was a tactical failure as it did not secure launching points but did convince the Turks that the next offensive would be launched across Jordan. So instead, the offensive would launch along the coast.

Alfred was admitted to hospital from the 6th of September to the 10th of October 1918. The 9th Light Horse then took part in the Battle of Megiddo, fought between the 19th to 25th of September 1918. The mounted forces entered deep into the Turkish rear areas severing roads, railways and communication links. Alfred was then sick in hospital on 9th of October 1918 and also on the 12th of October 1918 at a field hospital.

Alfred participated in the battle of Khan Ayash on 2nd October 1918, during which Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Thomas Joseph captured the 46th Turkish Infantry Regimentals standard 27km north of Damascus. Alfred and his brigade went through the city to capture remains of the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group. In the process the city surrendered, and the Australian light horsemen then captured the retreating forces. Early the next morning there was a large group spotted of a Turkish force retreating just north of Khan Ayash, a mile from their encampment. Daly ordered two squadrons of the 9th Light Horse regiment to immediately cut the road in front, while the 3rd squadron charged into them forcing them to surrender.  

On the 31st of October 1918 the Turks concluded an armistice. While waiting to return home to Australia, the 9th Light Horse was called back to operational duty to stop an Egyptian revolt that arose in early 1919. Things calmed down in little over a month. Alfred was then ill from the 4th of January 1919 at the Moascar isolation camp till the 8th of February with malaria and bronchitis. On the 18th of May 1919 Alfred transferred to the Port Said rest camp where he was ill until the 24th of May. On the 10th of July 1919 the 9th Light Horse regiment sailed on the HM Transport “Oxfordshire” from Port Said in Egypt and arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 4th August 1919.

Whilst traveling home he attended lessons and completed “educational exams” in bookkeeping, arithmetic and english to prepare them for the work force once discharged from the army. Alfred was awarded the Star for his service, the British war medal for participation during conflict, and the Victory medal for the victory of the Allied forces over the Central powers.  

After Alfred returned, he moved to the Mid North where he was able to get work as a saddler and married Clara Paulina Zanker on the 9th of June 1920 at Orroroo and they had seven children. Alfred was a life member of the Orroroo Rifle Club and RSL Club and worked in the local flour mill up to World War 2 when he tried to enlist but was too old.

Alfred then went to the air force in Batchelor, Northern Territory. After the second world war, he joined the Commonwealth Railways where he repaired and built bridges in the north of South Australia. A few years following, he returned to Orroroo working in the building trade until retirement. Alfred was considered the local vet as he was a great animal lover. He died due to a stroke on the 16th of November 1975, and he is remembered on the Goolwa War Memorial.

Bibliography

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Sa.gov.au. (2021). State Library of South Australia / All Locations. [online] Available at: https://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/search~S1?/Xt:(9th+light+horse)&searchscope=1&SORT=D/Xt:(9th+light+horse)&searchscope=1&SORT=D&SUBKEY=t%3A(9th+light+horse)/1%2C244%2C244%2CB/frameset&FF=Xt:(9th+light+horse)&searchscope=1&SORT=D&1%2C1%2C [Accessed 6 Mar. 2021].

Vwma.org.au. (2014). 9th Light Horse Regiment. [online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/68.

Wikipedia. (2021). Capture of Jenin. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Jenin#:~:text=The%20Capture%20of%20Jenin%20occurred [Accessed 6 Mar. 2021].

www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). | The Australian War Memorial. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people.

www.awm.gov.au. (n.d.). AWM4 Subclass 10/3 - 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade. [online] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338857.