SMITH, Thomas Lindsay
| Service Number: | WX10158 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 December 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Dwellingup, Western Australia, 19 September 1912 |
| Home Town: | Dwellingup, Murray, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Illness, Thailand, 18 November 1944, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery 1 D 71, Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/233452249/thomas-lindsey-smith |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX10158 | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Dec 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX10158 | |
| 14 Jul 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX10158, 6th Division Cavalry Regiment, embarked Fremantle for Middle East per US Convoy 11A | |
| 17 Dec 1941: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 22 Apr 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX10158, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, embarked Suez for Batavia on board SS Orcades | |
| 30 Apr 1942: | Imprisoned Java Camp |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Thomas Lindsay Smith (Service No:WX10158) enlisted in the Army on 14 December 1940 in No 3 Training Battalion, posted to 6 Division Cavalry in February 1941. On 14 July 1941 Private Smith embarked from Fremantle for the Middle East on US Convoy IIA, and transferred to 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion on 17 December 1941. He embarked from Suez on 22 April 1942 on board SS Orcades bound for Batavia. Reported Missing in Java on 30 April 1942, Private Smith was confirmed a PoW of the Japanese on 12 August 1942 - believed to be interred at Java Camp. Private Smith died of illness on 18 November 1944. On 4 April 1946 Private Smith's body was exhumed and he was buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.
The fifth of eight children, Tom was born in Dwellingup WA in 1912 to Joseph Charles Smith (b1881 in Warragul, Victoria) and Elsie Iona Beatrice Smith (b1886 in Sheffield, Tasmania). Joseph (a Labourer) and Elsie married in Tasmania in 1904 and moved to Neerim, Victoria where Joseph was a Labourer. In 1911 the family moved to Holyoake in Dwellingup, WA where they settled and Joseph was a Hewer. Joseph served in WWI (Private; Service No:3333).
Tom was sixteen years of age in 1928 and working as a Labourer in Dwellingup when he went on trial in Perth for murder of his employer, John Charles Ibbott, a Butcher. Tom was found Not Guilty and acquitted, returning to Dwellingup where he worked as a Labourer. In 1935 Tom married Rita Helen Bell (b1911 in Albany, WA). Tom and Rita lived at Inglehope in Dwellingup where Tom was a Labourer until his enlistment in the Army.
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