Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

Vietnam (1962-1975)

Date of Enlistment

01/05/1968

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

15/07/1948

Place of Birth

Brisbane, Queensland

Address (at enlistment)

Toorak, Victoria (previously Lambert Street, Lyneham and Adair Street, Scullin)

School(s) Attended

St. Edmund's College, Canberra ACT

Occupation

Journalist

Next of Kin

Son of John Sommerville Smith and Daisy Una Smith of Toorak, Victoria and brother of Kathleen, Thomas and Graeme Smith.

Burial Place

Canberra (Woden) Cemetery; Ex-Services Section, Grave 197

Service Number

3793566

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment

Died 11 August 1969 aged 21 years, from wounds, South Vietnam

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 5, Canberra ACT
St. Edmund's College Memorial, corner McMillan Crescent and Canberra Avenue, Griffith

Smith was a student at St. Edmund's from 1958 to 1965 when his family lived at Lambert Street in Lyneham. He was working as a journalist in Brisbane when he was called up in May 1968 as a National Serviceman. Smith served in Vietnam from 3 February 1969 with the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.

Smith died at the 1st Australian Field Hospital in Vung Tau on 11 August 1969 after being hit by friendly fire in Phuoc Tuy province when "a sentry group, operating in thick jungle, heard movement outside its perimeter and opened fire". His mother died the month before. Both are buried in Woden Cemetery.

Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans http://www.vietnamroll.gov.au
Michael Moloney, 'St. Edmund's College - The Story 1954-2004', 2004
The Canberra Times - 14 August 1969, 16 August 1969, 27 August 1969, 18 August 1972
Canberra Public Cemeteries http://www.canberracemeteries.com.au/cem_gravesearch.asp
Allen Calleghan, 'A Brief History - National Service in Australia', 2005 (refer 1 Field Squadron, RAE web site)
Fifth Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment web site - www.5rar.asn.au