Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

19/09/1917

Date of Discharge

04/03/1919

Place of Enlistment

Melbourne, Victoria

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

09/03/1896

Place of Birth

Rockbank, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Acton ACT

Occupation

Public servant

Next of Kin

Walter and Ada Smith (parents) of Caulfield, Victoria

Service Number

3390

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

37 Battalion AIF

Ivo Smith was born in Victoria and was appointed to the Commonwealth Public Service on 1 December 1914 after which he was transferred to Canberra as a clerk in the Accounts Branch of the Department of Home Affairs. He was a foundation member of the Canberra Rifle Club.

Smith arrived in France in June 1918 and served with the 37th Battalion. He was part of the 3rd Division's advance along the north bank of the Somme River during August 1918 when they captured Bray, Suzanne and Clery. He received a gun shot wound to the elbow during the attack along Bouchavesnes spur on 30 August 1918. He was afterwards diagnosed with flat feet and returned to Australia to be discharged.

After the war Smith resumed his public service career in Canberra and lived in Forrest. He was also heavily involved in local cricket, serving as Treasurer of the Federal Capital Territory Cricket Association during most of the 1930s.

Smith and Bob Shannon embarked together on the HMAT Ulysses in December 1917 with the 8th reinforcements to the 37th Battalion and were marched into the 9th Training Battalion at Fovant, Wiltshire on 30 March 1918. The second image shows Smith and Shannon with the AIF rising sun badge cut into the hill at Fovant in the background.

Description - height 5 feet 5¼ inches, weight 113 pounds, chest 30-34 inches, fresh complexion, brown eyes, reddish hair, Church of England.

Queanbeyan Leader - 18 October 1915
National Archives (A202) 1914/4381 Full names of Officers and Employees, Federal Territory Salaries Register
National Archives (A202) 1913/4213 Statement of the Duties of each Officer of the Accounts Branch in the Federal Territory
National Library of Australia : Canberra Rifle Club Minute Book 1914-1939 (manuscript call no. NLA MS 3996)
National Library of Australia : Country Women's Association of NSW (Canberra Branch) History, 1959 (manuscript call no. NLA MS 734)
Don Selth, 'Cricket on the Limestone Plains', 1992
A.W. Edwards, 'My War Diary', 1920 (AWM PR89/050)
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
ACT Electoral Roll - 1939
Images courtesy of Gordon Shannon