Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

19/08/1914

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

28/04/1892

Place of Birth

Adelaide, South Australia

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

School(s) Attended

St. Peter's College (Adelaide)

Occupation

Soldier

Burial Place

Chatby Military Cemetery, Alexandria, Egypt, plot Q.431

Final Rank

Lieutenant

Final Unit

10 Battalion AIF

Died from wounds, 30 April 1915, Cairo, Egypt aged 23 years

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 60, Canberra ACT
Large stone tablet on outside of northern wall of St. John's Church, Reid ACT

Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 28 October 1915, page 2737, position 14)

Smith entered the Royal Military College with the first intake of cadets on 22 June 1911. He was a member of the guard of honour at the Canberra naming ceremony on 12 March 1913. He graduated from RMC on 14 August 1914 and was initially posted to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment but swapped his posting with Sydney Rowell and joined the 10th Battalion as a lieutenant.

The 10th Battalion landed at Anzac at dawn on 25 April 1915. Smith was in charge of the scouts of the 10th Battalion and went forward with them. He was later recommended for honours for he "bravely led the battalion scouts on the morning of the landing (25th April) under heavy fire and drove the enemy from machine guns, subsequently capturing three guns. He afterwards took charge of the machine guns of his own battalion and whilst working one of them was severely wounded in the head." He was evacuated to the 15th General Hospital in Alexandria where he died on 30 April 1915.

The AWM collections record H05794 suggests Smith died and was buried in Egypt though his service file suggests he was buried at sea. Note that the NAA file reference is to Eric Wilks Talbot Smith.

Description - height 5 feet 10½ inches, weight 148 pounds, chest 36 inches, Church of England.

AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM Honours & Awards
AWM Collections Records : H05794, P01224.003
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)