Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

According to my grandmother when she was alive (a Macpherson) I was named after Colin Smith. The history provided here adds a lot of colour to his story which I have always wondered about. I will raise a glass to toast my brave namesake who died in this horrible battle 100 years ago.
Colin Coe (Canada)

Colin Macpherson Smith of ‘Aviemore’ at Gilberton, South Australia was born at Semaphore in April 1895 and educated at Queen’s School and the Collegiate School of St Peter.
At the time of enlistment, Colin was a bank clerk and nominated his home address as Mutooroo station, Cockburn, a remote outback property in South Australia.
Second Lieutenant Colin Macpherson Smith sailed from Adelaide with the 8th quota of reinforcements aboard HMAT Anchises on 2 September 1915; this quota included Second Lieutenant James Churchill - Smith and 152 other ranks.
The last quota of reinforcements to join the battalion at Anzac was the 7th and so after arriving at Mudros in October, the 8th quota, like the 9th and 10th that followed it, were held on Lemnos Island.
While at Mudros Colin fell ill and on 2 December was admitted to Hospital with Typhoid and then at the end of January was returned to Australia aboard HMAS Kanowna.
On 1 June 1916, he joined the 18th quota of reinforcements for the 10th Battalion and sailed from Melbourne aboard the HMAT Barambah on 27 June 1916.
After reaching England he joined the 3rd Training Battalion at Perham Downs and on 28 August was attached to Admin HQ London until 7 November when he embarked for France.
While at the 1st Australian Division’s Base Depot, in Étaples he fell ill and was twice admitted to 24th General Hospital and did not join the battalion until May 1917.
He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 June and at the end of the month was detached to 3rd Brigade HQ as the Bomb Officer until rejoining the battalion towards the end of August.
During the 10th Battalion’s move up to Broodseinde Ridge on 5/6 October 1917 he suffered shrapnel wounds to his right leg and a compound fracture of the right femur. He was admitted to 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station but succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter; he was 22 years of age.
Witness Statements
In early March 1918 Private Roy Meldrum (OS) told a Red Cross representative that Colin was the Headquarters Bombing Officer and as they had been at the old School together he knew him well. He said Colin ‘came from Mutooroo Station, Cockburn, South Australia. His people had a big ranch there.’ ‘Stretcher Bearer Mildren of 4 Platoon, A Company 10th Battalion (who was with the Battalion when I left on the 8th February) told me he helped carry Lieutenant Smith back to the dressing station and that he died there.’
In May 1919, Captain Gordon Cathcart Campbell MC and bar, (OS) described Colin as ‘over medium height, exceptionally well built, good athlete, young and fair complexion. He said that after Lieutenant Smith had been hit by a shell on 6 October he was ‘taken down to Canadian C.C.S., where he died shortly after arrival. Padre Major Makeham buried him, and can give further information.’
An officer who was with Colin when he was wounded (probably Errol Cruickshank) and was later also killed in action wrote about the loss of Colin in the School Magazine.
Colin Smith, to me, was more than the ordinary army pal, having been educated together at Saints. We were together at Lemnos after I came off the Peninsula and again in France. He was loved by all. He was always keen on everything and just as he played football or cricket always being foremost in the fray, so he was in the front lines.
A young soldier who was not with Colin when he was killed wrote that he knew him ‘quite well’ and that the ‘thought of danger would not worry him in the least.’
It seems a pity he could not have lived longer, he was just the sort that win V.C.’s and things of that kind.
Colin’s brothers Ross and Keith received their education at Queen's School, Adelaide and in Scotland the birthplace of their parents. Ross enlisted at Morphettville Camp in 1914 as a Trooper with the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment and served with them at Anzac and in the Sinai before transferring to the Australian Flying Corps in 1916 where he served in the famous 67th Squadron. Keith served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. In 1919, the Smith brothers flew a Vickers Vimy bomber in the inaugural now famous Air Race and after landing in Darwin on 10 December 1919, won the prize of 10,000 pounds.
The brothers received a cheque for £10,000 which they insisted on sharing equally with their two mechanics. They also each received a knighthood for the achievement.

Colin Macpherson Smith of ‘Aviemore’ at Gilberton, South Australia was born at Semaphore in April 1895 and educated at Queen’s School and the Collegiate School of St Peter.
At the time of enlistment, Colin was a bank clerk and nominated his home address as Mutooroo station, Cockburn, a remote outback property in South Australia.
Second Lieutenant Colin Macpherson Smith sailed from Adelaide with the 8th quota of reinforcements aboard HMAT Anchises on 2 September 1915; this quota included Second Lieutenant James Churchill - Smith and 152 other ranks.
The last quota of reinforcements to join the battalion at Anzac was the 7th and so after arriving at Mudros in October, the 8th quota, like the 9th and 10th that followed it, were held on Lemnos Island.
While at Mudros Colin fell ill and on 2 December was admitted to Hospital with Typhoid and then at the end of January was returned to Australia aboard HMAS Kanowna.
On 1 June 1916, he joined the 18th quota of reinforcements for the 10th Battalion and sailed from Melbourne aboard the HMAT Barambah on 27 June 1916.
After reaching England he joined the 3rd Training Battalion at Perham Downs and on 28 August was attached to Admin HQ London until 7 November when he embarked for France.
While at the 1st Australian Division’s Base Depot, in Étaples he fell ill and was twice admitted to 24th General Hospital and did not join the battalion until May 1917.
He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 June and at the end of the month was detached to 3rd Brigade HQ as the Bomb Officer until rejoining the battalion towards the end of August.
During the 10th Battalion’s move up to Broodseinde Ridge on 5/6 October 1917 he suffered shrapnel wounds to his right leg and a compound fracture of the right femur. He was admitted to 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station but succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter; he was 22 years of age.
Witness Statements
In early March 1918 Private Roy Meldrum (OS) told a Red Cross representative that Colin was the Headquarters Bombing Officer and as they had been at the old School together he knew him well. He said Colin ‘came from Mutooroo Station, Cockburn, South Australia. His people had a big ranch there.’ ‘Stretcher Bearer Mildren of 4 Platoon, A Company 10th Battalion (who was with the Battalion when I left on the 8th February) told me he helped carry Lieutenant Smith back to the dressing station and that he died there.’
In May 1919, Captain Gordon Cathcart Campbell MC and bar, (OS) described Colin as ‘over medium height, exceptionally well built, good athlete, young and fair complexion. He said that after Lieutenant Smith had been hit by a shell on 6 October he was ‘taken down to Canadian C.C.S., where he died shortly after arrival. Padre Major Makeham buried him, and can give further information.’
An officer who was with Colin when he was wounded (probably Errol Cruickshank) and was later also killed in action wrote about the loss of Colin in the School Magazine.
Colin Smith, to me, was more than the ordinary army pal, having been educated together at Saints. We were together at Lemnos after I came off the Peninsula and again in France. He was loved by all. He was always keen on everything and just as he played football or cricket always being foremost in the fray, so he was in the front lines.
A young soldier who was not with Colin when he was killed wrote that he knew him ‘quite well’ and that the ‘thought of danger would not worry him in the least.’
It seems a pity he could not have lived longer, he was just the sort that win V.C.’s and things of that kind.
Colin’s brothers Ross and Keith received their education at Queen's School, Adelaide and in Scotland the birthplace of their parents. Ross enlisted at Morphettville Camp in 1914 as a Trooper with the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment and served with them at Anzac and in the Sinai before transferring to the Australian Flying Corps in 1916 where he served in the famous 67th Squadron. Keith served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. In 1919, the Smith brothers flew a Vickers Vimy bomber in the inaugural now famous Air Race and after landing in Darwin on 10 December 1919, won the prize of 10,000 pounds.
The brothers received a cheque for £10,000 which they insisted on sharing equally with their two mechanics. They also each received a knighthood for the achievement.