SMITH, Samuel Robert William
(Service number 6/1982)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 13 January 1895 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 5 January 1917 | Age | 21 years 11 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | C/o H. M. Reformatory, Invercargill | ||
| Occupation | Labourer (NZ Government) | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs H. SMITH (mother), Grey Street, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | G Company | ||
| Date | 26 April 1917 | ||
| Transport | Pakeha | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Plymouth, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 30 July 1981 | Age | 86 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Cherry Farm Hospital, Waikouaiti | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Andersons Bay Crematorium, Dunedin; ashes interred Andersons Bay Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Samuel Robert William Smith was the first-born of Thomas Smith and his second wife, Ellen née Gregg. Thomas Smith had fifteen children by his first wife, also named Ellen, and six by his second wife. Thomas died in 1914 at Timaru. Born on 13 January 1895 at Timaru, he was educated at Timaru Main School. Samuel was working at the Reformatory at Invercargill when he enlisted. Rifleman S. R. W. Smith embarked for England with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 26 April 1917. He returned to New Zealand in March 1918 by Draft 148.
Samuel married Marjorie Anice Hullah in 1934. Samuel William Robert Gregg Smith died on 30 July 1981 at Cherry Farm Hospital, Waikouaiti, near Dunedin, aged 86 years. He was cremated at Andersons Bay, Dunedin, and his ashes were interred there. His burial plaque records his World War II service with the Air Force. Samuel’s half-brother died in the Boer War and was buried in the Pretoria Cemetery.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [19 January 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [19 January 2021]; School Admission record [22 January 2021]; Andersons Bay crematorium record, burial record & headstone image (Dunedin City Council) [19 January 2021]; Sun, 13 March 1918 (Papers Past) [16 January 2021]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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