Hugh Henry Smith

Hugh Henry Smith

Western Mail 3 Dec 1915 p.23
Personal Information
Date of Birth	unknown "unknown" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Birth	West Perth, Western Australia
Death	not known "not known" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Death	not known
Age at Enlistment	19 years, 4 months
Description	5'9" (1.75m) tall ; 166 lbs 75.296 kg ; fair complexion ; brown eyes ; brown hair
Occupation	Labourer
Religion	Church of England
Address	NOK Busselton, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father , Mr H Smith
Military Information
Reg Number	2026
Date of Enlistment	13 Feb 1915
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	11th Battalion, 5th Reinforcement allotted to D Coy (3rd Brigade, 1st Division). Transferred to the 48th Battalion / 12th Brigade, 4th Division.
Date of Embarkation	26 Apr 1915 ‒ unknown "unknown" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A20 Hororata
Date of Return	4 Jan 1919 ‒ 12 Feb 1919
Ship Returned On	HMT Morvada
Fate	Wounded in Action 8 Aug 1918 at Amiens Returned to Australia
Monument	Kelmscott War Memorial (South panel) Roleystone Honour Board
Medals	1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

The only match for the HH Smith on the Kelmscott Memorial. Enlisted in Busselton. A week after entering Blackboy Hill camp, Hugh was allocated to the 5th reinforcement draft for the 11th Battalion.

Taken on strength by the 11th Battalion at Gallipoli on 16 Jun 1915 and posted to 'D' Company. On 13 Sep he was treated by the 3rd Field Ambulance for pyrexia and sent on 13 Sep 1915 to the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station. Transferred by hospital ship to Mudros for treatment by the 25th Casualty Clearing Station. They in turn forwarded him on to the 1st Australian General Hospital in Heliopolis, Egypt via HMHS Formosa to Port Said, arriving on 21 Sep 1915. His treatment card indicates he was a patient for 44 days before his release on 3 Nov 1915.

Appears not to have made it back to Gallipoli before the withdrawal, and is one of the men 'donated' to the newly formed 48th Battalion, joining them on 25 Apr 1916. On 27 May 1916 the battalion packed up at Serapeum and 1 Jun 1916 entrained for Alexandria where they boarded HMT Caledonia on the 3rd for Marseilles, disembarking on 9 Jun 1916 and entrained for the front which they reached in the early morning of 12 Jun 1916.

Hospitalised in France 27 Jun to 10 Jul 1916, and again from 20 Jul 1916. His admittance to the 20th General Hospital in Camiers on 26 Jul 1916 indicated that he had a mild case of Trench Feet. Hugh rejoined the 48th Battalion on 1 Oct 1916.

While in England on leave in early Jan 1917 he was again hospitalised, and then ran foul of Military Law. On 9 Jan 1917 he was charged with being AWOL in Perham Downs for 4 hours, but had another man's pass and was therefore awarded 7 days detention on top of the 5 days he had been in custody awaiting trial. On his release he reported to No 4 Command Depot in Wareham, and there, he again went AWOL, this time for 12 days, resulting in him being awarded 8 days detention to go with the 2 already served and loss of pay for 23 days.

Things went downhill from here, with the next charges being for resisting an escort and striking a superior officer. The Court Martial awarded 6 months detention, and the forfeit of 205 days pay. Hugh had his sentence cut short by 52 days and he returned to France via Southampton on 17 Sep 1917.

He joined the 48th again on 24 Oct 1917, and on 22 Dec 1917 took an extra 2 hours leave, with the subsequent loss of 7 days pay. At a Field General Court Martial on 27 Jan 1918 (his second) he was charged with drunkenness on 31 Dec 1917, and offering violence the same day. Found guilty, he was sentenced to 9 months in custody on top of the 27 days awaiting trial and the loss of 300 day's pay. On 18 Jun 1918 the rest of his sentence was suspended and he returned to duty, rejoining the 48th Battalion on 25 Jun 1917.

On 8 Aug 1918 near Proyart he received a bullet wound to his left hand and was evacuated to England on the 11th, where he was admitted to the Fort Pitt Military Hospital in Chatham. The War Diary does not record any contact with the enemy that day. Evacuated to England. It appears that he remained in England, as on 6 Dec 1918 he was found guilty of being away from his base without a leave pass. Hugh was discharged by the 5th Military District on 22 Apr 1919.

Post War

In 1925 Hugh seeks assistance from the Repatriation Commission for a hernia suffered at Gallipoli. No mention of this injury in his records.

Electoral Roll entries - The only entry is for 1925 at Throssell street, Collie, sealer

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial