The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6815) Private Norbert Leo Smyth, 11th infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (6815) Private Norbert Leo Smyth, 11th infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6815 Private Norbert Leo Smyth, 11th infantry Battalion, AIF
Presumed 24 April 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Norbert Leo Smyth.

Norbert Leo Smyth, known as “Bert” to his family and friends, was born in November 1892, the second child, and first son, born to Laurence and Elizabeth Smyth of Perth. Smyth’s father died in 1898, leaving his mother Elizabeth to raise her five young children alone. Young Bert attended Christian Brothers’ College in Perth, and later worked as an accountant.

He volunteered to serve for Australia in the Great War on 17 May 1916, enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 7 August. In the month between volunteering and officially enlisting, he married his sweetheart, Mary Griffin, in Perth.
Bert’s brother Joseph also served in the First World War. Joseph survived the conflict, but died in 1939 from complications of tuberculosis contracted in France.
Bert Smyth embarked from Fremantle for service overseas on the 9th of November 1916, three months after getting married.

He sailed with the reinforcements of the 11th Infantry Battalion for England, where he arrived in early January 1917. Smyth continued to train in England, but on 29 January was hospitalised with influenza. He did not rejoin his training battalion until 25 March.

In May 1917, he sailed from England for France, and on 15 June joined C Company of the 11th Infantry Battalion while they were training behind the lines near Ribemont in northern France. He remained training with his unit throughout July and August, and in mid-September moved north to Belgium, to the Chateau Segard area south of Ypres.

In Belgium, Smyth settled into a cycle of front line, reserve and training duties that lasted until October 1917. The men of the 11th Battalion spent their time resting and training behind the lines, or manning front-line trenches, facing intermittent German high explosive artillery, rifle, and machine-gun fire.

On 1 October, while his unit was in reserve in the Westhoek area, Smyth was once again hospitalised, this time with bronchitis. His illness was so severe that he went to England for recovery, and did not rejoin his unit in the field until 11 January 1918.

From January until March 1918, Smyth continued to serve in Belgium in wet and muddy conditions. His battalion did not take part in any major battle, but instead continued their cycle of front-line, reserve and training duties. On 18 February, the men of the 11th Battalion were given a brief respite: a one-day holiday on which they were given extra food, entertainment and a sports carnival. This day was granted to replace Christmas Day, as the battalion had spent 25 December 1917 manning the trenches near Ypres.

In April 1918, Smyth and the 11th Battalion moved south from Belgium into France in response to the German Spring Offensive. They initially moved to the lines near Amiens, but soon moved back north to Hazebrouck, near the Franco–Belgian border.

At 1.50 am on 24 April 1918, Smyth and his company took part in a raid on the German lines at Méteren. As the Australians took part in the attack, they encountered intense machine-gun fire which forced them back to their own trenches. In the chaos and darkness of the action, Smyth ran to the aid of a sergeant lying wounded on the battlefield. As he approached the wounded soldier, Smyth was killed by machine-gun fire.

He was 25 years old.

Due to the intense machine-gun fire, his comrades could not recover his body, and his name is now listed on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France, which lists the names of more than 10,700 Australians of the First World War who have no known grave.

Private Norbert Leo Smyth is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Norbert Leo Smyth, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

David Sutton
Historian, Military History Section