SMITH, Herbert Birchwood
(Service number 32402)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 18 April 1891 | Place of Birth | Riverton, Southland |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 27 July 1916 | Age | 25 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Rocklands, Fairlie | ||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Ernest A. SMITH (brother), Levels Valley, Tycho Delivery, Timaru; also advise Mrs E. SMITH (mother), Kimg Street, Otautau, Southland | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 10th Reinforcements, 3rd Battalion, G Company | ||
| Date | 15 November 1916 | ||
| Transport | Maunganui | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington | Destination | Devonport, England |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | 3rd Battalion, Canterbury Regiment | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
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 | 16 August 1974 | Age | 83 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Mosgiel | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | East Taieri Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Herbert Birchwood Smith was born on 18 April 1891 at Riverton, the fourth son of Cyrus Scipio and Emma (née Baird) Smith. He was educated at Eastern Bush School in Southland. Both Herbert and his brother Ernest Albert Smith seem to have moved to South Canterbury in about 1914. Herbert was a farmer at Rocklands, Fairlie when he enlisted on 27 July 1916 at Trentham. Single and Presbyterian, he named his brother as next-of-kin – Ernest A. Smith, Levels Valley, Tycho Delivery, Timaru. His mother – Mrs E. Smith, King Street, Otautau, Southland – was also to be advised. Rifleman H. B. Smith embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 10th Reinforcements, 3rd Battalion, departing from Wellington per the “Maunganui” on 15 November 1916 and disembarking at Devonport, England on 29 January 1917. Having suffered severe gunshot wounds, he returned to New Zealand per the “Maheno”, leaving from Plymouth, England on 8 August 1917 and arriving in New Zealand on 18 September.
Herbert was discharged on 16 December 1917, no longer physically fit for war service on account of wounds received in action, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He may have gone initially to Queen Mary Hospital, Hanmer. By 1921 he was farming at Sutton, Central Otago. He married Margaret Anderson in 1921 and they had a son, Ernest Oscar Smith, born in 1923. They continued to farm at Middlemarch for many years before moving into Mosgiel. Herbert Birchwood Smith died at Mosgiel (late of Middlemarch) on 16 August 1974, aged 87 years, and was buried at East Taieri Cemetery with Margaret who had died on 17 August 1971.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [09 June 2026]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [09 June 2026]; School Admission records [09 June 2026]; East Taieri Cemetery headstone transcription & burial records [09 June 2026; Evening Post, 17 September 1917, Dominion, 18 September 1917 (Papers Past) 09 June 2026]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [09 June 2026]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
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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