Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Corporal Leonard Henry Trevorrow Smith (1912–1985)

Corporal Leonard Henry Trevorrow Smith was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 31 December 1912. His birth was registered under both the surnames Trevorrow and Smith, with no father recorded. His mother was Irene May Trevorrow, who married Joseph Smith on 30 May 1914, when Leonard was almost eighteen months old. From that time he became known as Leonard Henry Smith, and his later marriage registration identified Joseph Smith as his father.

Leonard spent his early years in South Australia and worked in a variety of occupations before the Second World War. His Royal Australian Air Force service record records previous employment as a woodcutter, road worker, quarryman, and clerk, reflecting the varied manual work he undertook during the Depression years. After returning from military service, he was employed as a Conductor with the Municipal Tramways Trust (M.T.T.), as recorded in his son Trevor's school admission register in 1949.

On 15 May 1935, Leonard married Avis Eileen Fridlington at the residence of her father, Richard Mortimer Fridlington, in Minlaton. Leonard was twenty-two years old and Avis just seventeen. Their marriage lasted more than forty-four years and produced six children:

Peter Smith
Neville Richard Smith (1937–2012)
Trevor John Smith (1944–1992)
Wendy Bernadette (Smith) Reynolds (1948–2013)
Bronte Wayne Smith (born 1949)
Pamela Smith

With Australia at war, Leonard enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force at Adelaide on 21 May 1940, receiving Service Number 26559. His service file records his next of kin as his wife, Avis Smith, and describes him as 5 feet 4 inches tall, with brown hair, blue eyes, a fair complexion, and a scar on his left leg. He was medically assessed as fit for service.

Initially mustered as a Messman, Leonard completed training as a cook and served at numerous Royal Australian Air Force establishments throughout Australia. His wartime career included service at training schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, and personnel depots. He qualified as a Messman, Cook's Steward, and Cook, and through steady promotion attained the rank of Corporal. His conduct was consistently assessed as Very Good, reflecting a reliable and dedicated period of service.

For his wartime service he was awarded the:

1939–45 Star
Pacific Star
War Medal 1939–45
Australia Service Medal 1939–45

Following more than six years of service, Leonard was honourably discharged on 24 October 1946 during the post-war demobilisation programme.

The Second World War also brought personal tragedy to Leonard's family. While he returned safely from service, his brother-in-law, Private Jack Charles Fridlington, Avis's younger brother, died as a prisoner of war aboard the Japanese "hell ship" Tamahoko Maru on 24 June 1944. The loss deeply affected the Fridlington family and remained part of their shared wartime history.

Leonard and Avis established their family in metropolitan Adelaide. Their children attended local schools, and Leonard continued his post-war career with the Municipal Tramways Trust while raising a growing family.

Avis died on 30 July 1979, aged 61 years, and was buried in Minlaton Cemetery, where her memorial names each of their six children.

Leonard survived his wife by six years. He died on 26 August 1985, aged 72 years, at the Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, while residing at 5 Sampson Road, Mitchell Park. He was cremated at Centennial Park Crematorium.

Remembered as a devoted husband, father, returned serviceman and hardworking family man, Leonard Henry Trevorrow Smith's life spanned the hardships of the Great Depression, six years of wartime service with the Royal Australian Air Force, and nearly four decades helping build post-war South Australia.

Sources

South Australian Birth Registration: Henry Leonard Trevorrow / Leonard Henry Smith, born 31 December 1912, Adelaide, Book 900, Page 388.
South Australian Marriage Registration: Joseph Smith and Irene May Trevorrow, 30 May 1914, St Luke's Vestry, Adelaide, Book 259, Page 819.
South Australian Marriage Registration: Leonard Henry Smith and Avis Eileen Fridlington, 15 May 1935, Minlaton, Book 357, Page 1775.
National Archives of Australia, RAAF Service Record, Service No. 26559, confirming enlistment, next of kin, service history, promotions, medals and discharge.
Glenelg Infant School Admission Register, Trevor John Smith, recording Leonard's occupation as Conductor, Municipal Tramways Trust, 1949.
South Australian Death Registration: Leonard Henry Smith, died 26 August 1985, Book 693A, Page 6738.
Siebert's Funeral Records, Centennial Park Crematorium, 1985.
Minlaton Cemetery memorial for Avis Eileen (Fridlington) Smith.

Biography by Trevor Pyatt 10/07/2026