Studio portrait of 12 Driver (Dvr) Albert Charles Smithson, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, of Annandale, NSW. A carpenter before enlisting in August 1914, Dvr Smithson left Australia for Egypt in October 1914 where he was a horseholder until arriving in France for service on the Western Front in March 1916. After leave in England in May 1916, Dvr Smithson was promoted to Bombardier in August 1916, and later Corporal (Cpl) in October 1916. Cpl Smithson was wounded in the back from German counter-battery artillery fire near Albert on 1 November 1916. He was evacuated to the 38th Casualty Clearance Station at Heilly where he died the following day, aged 21.
Albert was not a horse holder until he reached France.
He was engaged in combat at Galipoli.
He sat at the front of a destroyer watching April 25 1915 unfold.
Artillery was sent 2 days later.
He was my great uncle.
I have his diary and photo book from the time he left Neutral Bay.
There is so much that is not recorded correctly in this useless war.
Lest we forget.
Hi Brett,
I would be interested to know more about Albert.
He too was my great uncle. My grandmother, Ethel, was Albert’s youngest sister. I do remember her talking of the loss of her brother.
As you have said Albert’s war records lack detail in the period from when he joined up until being in Alexandria. I have always wondered if he was evacuated from Gallipoli to Egypt.
Regards,
Steve