EDWARD PERCY SMITH
REGIMENTAL NO. 27971
24 OCTOBER 1894 – 6 OCTOBER 1917
Edward Percy SMITH, born in Nottingham, England on 24 October 1894, to Harry and Harriet SMITH, left few traces of his life in his 24 years. He and his two older brothers William Henry (born 1890), and Albert Bernard (born 1891), were all born in Nottingham, where Harry was an upholsterer. At the end of 1901 Harry and Harriet and their three sons emigrated to New Zealand on the “Aotea”.
The family set up home initially at 32 Taranaki Street, but by the 1905/1906 Census their address was Ohiro Road. By 1911 the family had moved to 78 Washington Avenue, close to Brooklyn School However, the boys attended Te Aro School, and could make their way down the hill, perhaps through Central Park, to school at the southern end of The Terrace. They were all enrolled at Te Aro School from January 1902. Edward was at primary school for 5 years, leaving in December 1907 to go on to the Technical School for 1908-1909
When Edward left school, he worked as a clerk for Whitcombe & Tombs, a stationery firm in Wellington.
Edward joined the 5th Wellington Regiment on 30 May 1916 and transferred to the 3rd Battalion Canterbury Regiment on 27 June 1916. He was given the regimental number 27971. Edward’s ‘apparent age’ was 21 years 7 months; he was 5 feet 8 inches tall; weighed 134 pounds; had fair complexion and hair and blue eyes. His religion was Church of England.
Edward had a short training period at Trentham where he received two vaccinations before leaving for England on board the “Willochra” on 16 October 1916 in HMNZT 66. He received a third vaccination on board ship. On arrival at Devonport in southern England on 29 December 1916, the men went to Sling Camp on the Salisbury Plains for more training. Edward was there until March of 1917 when he was posted to 2nd Company at Codford before leaving for France on 28 May 1917, almost exactly 12 months after enlisting.
Edward fought for only 5 months, but the period June-October 1917 covers the time when there was intense fighting on the Western Front in a series of battles for the village of Passchendaele on the border between France and Belgium.
“Since 1917 Passchendaele has been a byword for the horror of the Great War. The name conjures images of a shattered landscape of mud, shell craters and barbed wire, and of helpless soldiers mown down by machine-guns and artillery. The Belgian village of Passchendaele (Passendale), near Ypres (Ieper) in Flanders, became an objective that cost the lives of thousands of people, including many New Zealanders. The ridge leading to the village was the site of the worst disaster, in terms of lives lost, in New Zealand’s post–1840 history.”
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/passchendaele-the-battle-for-belgium
Read more about fighting in the area on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
It can be surmised that Edward would have been amongst those who fought through these conditions, taking their turn in the front line, then being relieved for a period and then returning to fight once again. He was serving with the 2nd Company of the Canterbury Regiment at the time. Edward was almost certainly one of the Passchendaele casualties, suffering a gunshot wound to the head on 5 October. He was admitted to the No. 3 NZ Field Ambulance on the 6th October, and died the same day at the 2nd Anzac Corps Main Dressing Station. His military personnel file states that the field ambulance was located in Belgium. Interestingly, and perhaps somewhat oddly, given his death at a known location where presumably he was then buried and his grave reference noted, the only record of his name with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Vlaanderen, Belgium. This Memorial bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. Edward’s name is on Panel 3A, where there are three columns of names of men killed while serving with the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. There are 81 names on the panel.
Edward is also commemorated on the Brooklyn War Memorial. He was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, which were sent to his father Harry in 1922. The family were still living at 78 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn. His total service was 494 days, or just over one year and 4 months. No photos of Edward have been discovered, and he has no headstone so the only image available is that of his family grave in Karori Cemetery. His brother William Henry married Frances Arnsby ARNOLD in 1919, but she died in 1927, and a family plot was purchased.
Edward's father Harry lived to the grand age of 86, dying in July 1946 and was buried in Karori Cemetery alongside his wife Harriet, who had died aged 78 in June 1932.
Research conducted by Ann Walker with supplementary input by Barbara Mulligan
REGIMENTAL NO. 27971
24 OCTOBER 1894 – 6 OCTOBER 1917
Edward Percy SMITH, born in Nottingham, England on 24 October 1894, to Harry and Harriet SMITH, left few traces of his life in his 24 years. He and his two older brothers William Henry (born 1890), and Albert Bernard (born 1891), were all born in Nottingham, where Harry was an upholsterer. At the end of 1901 Harry and Harriet and their three sons emigrated to New Zealand on the “Aotea”.
The family set up home initially at 32 Taranaki Street, but by the 1905/1906 Census their address was Ohiro Road. By 1911 the family had moved to 78 Washington Avenue, close to Brooklyn School However, the boys attended Te Aro School, and could make their way down the hill, perhaps through Central Park, to school at the southern end of The Terrace. They were all enrolled at Te Aro School from January 1902. Edward was at primary school for 5 years, leaving in December 1907 to go on to the Technical School for 1908-1909
When Edward left school, he worked as a clerk for Whitcombe & Tombs, a stationery firm in Wellington.
Edward joined the 5th Wellington Regiment on 30 May 1916 and transferred to the 3rd Battalion Canterbury Regiment on 27 June 1916. He was given the regimental number 27971. Edward’s ‘apparent age’ was 21 years 7 months; he was 5 feet 8 inches tall; weighed 134 pounds; had fair complexion and hair and blue eyes. His religion was Church of England.
Edward had a short training period at Trentham where he received two vaccinations before leaving for England on board the “Willochra” on 16 October 1916 in HMNZT 66. He received a third vaccination on board ship. On arrival at Devonport in southern England on 29 December 1916, the men went to Sling Camp on the Salisbury Plains for more training. Edward was there until March of 1917 when he was posted to 2nd Company at Codford before leaving for France on 28 May 1917, almost exactly 12 months after enlisting.
Edward fought for only 5 months, but the period June-October 1917 covers the time when there was intense fighting on the Western Front in a series of battles for the village of Passchendaele on the border between France and Belgium.
“Since 1917 Passchendaele has been a byword for the horror of the Great War. The name conjures images of a shattered landscape of mud, shell craters and barbed wire, and of helpless soldiers mown down by machine-guns and artillery. The Belgian village of Passchendaele (Passendale), near Ypres (Ieper) in Flanders, became an objective that cost the lives of thousands of people, including many New Zealanders. The ridge leading to the village was the site of the worst disaster, in terms of lives lost, in New Zealand’s post–1840 history.”
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/passchendaele-the-battle-for-belgium
Read more about fighting in the area on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
It can be surmised that Edward would have been amongst those who fought through these conditions, taking their turn in the front line, then being relieved for a period and then returning to fight once again. He was serving with the 2nd Company of the Canterbury Regiment at the time. Edward was almost certainly one of the Passchendaele casualties, suffering a gunshot wound to the head on 5 October. He was admitted to the No. 3 NZ Field Ambulance on the 6th October, and died the same day at the 2nd Anzac Corps Main Dressing Station. His military personnel file states that the field ambulance was located in Belgium. Interestingly, and perhaps somewhat oddly, given his death at a known location where presumably he was then buried and his grave reference noted, the only record of his name with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Vlaanderen, Belgium. This Memorial bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. Edward’s name is on Panel 3A, where there are three columns of names of men killed while serving with the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. There are 81 names on the panel.
Edward is also commemorated on the Brooklyn War Memorial. He was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, which were sent to his father Harry in 1922. The family were still living at 78 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn. His total service was 494 days, or just over one year and 4 months. No photos of Edward have been discovered, and he has no headstone so the only image available is that of his family grave in Karori Cemetery. His brother William Henry married Frances Arnsby ARNOLD in 1919, but she died in 1927, and a family plot was purchased.
Edward's father Harry lived to the grand age of 86, dying in July 1946 and was buried in Karori Cemetery alongside his wife Harriet, who had died aged 78 in June 1932.
Research conducted by Ann Walker with supplementary input by Barbara Mulligan