The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2247a) Private George Smith, 48th 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 Michael Kelly, the story for this day was on (2247a) Private George Smith, 48th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2247a Private George Smith, 48th Battalion, AIF
DOW 16 April 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 27 February 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private George Smith.

George Smith was born on 22 June 1867 in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. He was the eldest son of Robert and Mary Ann Smith. As an adult he spent about nine years working in Broken Hill. At some point he married a woman called Martha, and they went on to have two children. They moved back to South Australia and Smith spent years working as a foreman for a number of chaff mills in Freeling, and later on went on to work as a ganger on the Clare railway.

George Smith enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in May 1916, stating that he was 39 years old, instead of 48. He succeeded in enlisting, and in June 1916 a farewell social was held in the Freeling Institute to wish the new recruits well as they embarked for overseas service. Smith was presented with a case of pipes by the Freeling Cheer-Up Society.

Smith left Adelaide on 12 August 1916 and arrived in Plymouth some six weeks later. He underwent further training before being sent to France to fight on the Western Front. Smith arrived just as the major campaigns of 1916 had finished, and spent the miserable winter of 1916–17 rotating in and out of the front line with the 48th Battalion. Despite being nearly 50, George Smith reportedly did not suffer a day’s sickness during his military service.

In 1917 the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. By April 1917 the Australians were in the front line near the French village of Bullecourt. On 10 April 1917 the 48th Battalion was ordered to attack a length of German trench with support from a new weapon – tanks. However, the tanks failed to arrive and the battalion was forced to give up the small advance it had made and retire in full view of the Germans.

During this operation Private George Smith was shot in the head. He was carried out of the battlefield, making it to a casualty clearing station where he died of his wounds six days later. He was two months short of his 50th birthday.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died during 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 George Smith, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section