ARTHUR SMITH
REGIMENTAL NO. 4/1196
11 FEBRUARY 1883 – 18 JUNE 1917
Arthur SMITH was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England on 11 February 1883, second child and eldest son of Richard and Eleanor (nee Pearson) Smith. Arthur’s parents had 13 children in their 35 years of marriage, but by 1911 only 7 were still living. Arthur’s father was a carpet wire maker in Halifax. Arthur went to school there and passed the equivalent of the Fourth Educational Standard. After leaving school Arthur became a joiner and continued to live with his parents, 6 sisters and 1 brother in Halifax.
On 9 July 1906 at the age of 23 and single Arthur boarded the “Dorset” at Liverpool and emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand. Also on board the ship was the Allen family from Loughborough in Leicestershire. The father Joseph Kitchen Allen who was aged 42 was accompanied by his second wife Sarah Ellen Allen, 43, whom he had married in 1905, his first wife having died the previous year. Four of his children were with Joseph and Sarah - Frank Scott aged 11, Eric aged 8, Edna aged 6 (misnamed on the ship’s manifesto as Edward) and Cyril aged 2. Arthur and the Allen family obviously made friends on board ship as when they arrived in Wellington, Arthur lived with the family at 15 Adams Street, Brooklyn. Like Arthur, Joseph was a joiner. Arthur worked as a carpenter and joiner for Herbert Boddy in Brooklyn until he enlisted.
Arthur became firm friends with the oldest son of the Allen family, Frank, although there was a 12 year gap between them. They enlisted together at Trentham on 23 August 1915. Arthur was given the regimental number 4/1196. Arthur’s “apparent age” was 32, he was 5’5½” tall, weighed 108.6 pounds with fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. He had no illnesses and his teeth were “sufficient”. His religion was Unitarian.
After training at Trentham, Arthur embarked with 1st Field Company, New Zealand Engineers, on either the “Willochra” or “Tofua” on 13 November 1915 for Egypt. His friend Frank had also been assigned to the Engineers, and sailed in the same transport. They were in Egypt training until April 1916 when, once again together, they embarked on the “Minnewaska” for France. In July 1916 Frank was wounded slightly and from then on the two men had very different war experiences.
Arthur was unscathed until 19 April 1917 when he received gunshot wounds to his face and body and he was hospitalised. The wounds were obviously slight, as after 11 days he was able to be discharged to his unit, rejoining them on 30 April 1917. The Engineers were busy preparing for the Battle of Messines which was to be launched on 7 June starting with huge explosions under positions on or near the German front line from underground dynamite caches. It can reasonably be assumed that Sapper Smith was amongst one of the many work parties kept busy building roads, trenches, access routes and myriad other essential tasks in the lead up to the Battle, and then throughout the following days of the Battle which lasted until 14 June.
“The tactical objective of the attack at Messines was to capture the German defences on the ridge, which ran from on the cemetery database ("Plugstreet") Wood in the south through Messines and Wytschaete to Mt. Sorrel, to deprive the German Fourth Army of the high ground south of Ypres. …..British attacks from 8–14 June advanced the front line beyond the former German Sehnen (Oosttaverne) line. The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres campaign, the preliminary bombardment for which began on 11 July. ….Military analysts and historians disagree on the strategic significance of the battle, although most describe it as a British tactical and operational success”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_%281917%29
Arthur survived the battle, but less than one week later, on 18 June 1917, he was killed in action. No details of how or exactly where he died are recorded, and the place of death is simply noted in his military personnel file as being “France or Belgium”. Arthur was 34 when he died. He was buried in Plot VI.B.6 at the Strand Military Cemetery, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium, which is 13 kilometres south of Ypres.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website provides a description of the Strand Military Cemetery:
“'Charing Cross' was the name given by the troops to a point at the end of a trench called the Strand, which led into Ploegsteert Wood. In October 1914, two burials were made at this place, close to an Advanced Dressing Station,
The cemetery was not used between October 1914 and April 1917, but in April-July 1917 Plots I to VI were completed. Plots VII to X were made after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from some small cemeteries and from the battlefields lying mainly between Wytschaete and Armentieres”.
Arthur’s war service entitled him to the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, these medals going to his mother Ellen Smith in Halifax in 1922.
Frank Allen survived the war. His name is also on the Brooklyn Memorial, amongst the names of many men of the district who served and returned home. In 1921 his sister Edna married Douglas Rutherford, the twin brother of John Donald (Don) Rutherford who is also named on the Brooklyn Memorial. Don’s story is here.
Research conducted by Ann Walker with supplementary input by Barbara Mulligan
SOURCES
Archives New Zealand: http://archway.archives.govt.nz/
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/locations
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org
National Library of New Zealand – Papers Past: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast
REGIMENTAL NO. 4/1196
11 FEBRUARY 1883 – 18 JUNE 1917
Arthur SMITH was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England on 11 February 1883, second child and eldest son of Richard and Eleanor (nee Pearson) Smith. Arthur’s parents had 13 children in their 35 years of marriage, but by 1911 only 7 were still living. Arthur’s father was a carpet wire maker in Halifax. Arthur went to school there and passed the equivalent of the Fourth Educational Standard. After leaving school Arthur became a joiner and continued to live with his parents, 6 sisters and 1 brother in Halifax.
On 9 July 1906 at the age of 23 and single Arthur boarded the “Dorset” at Liverpool and emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand. Also on board the ship was the Allen family from Loughborough in Leicestershire. The father Joseph Kitchen Allen who was aged 42 was accompanied by his second wife Sarah Ellen Allen, 43, whom he had married in 1905, his first wife having died the previous year. Four of his children were with Joseph and Sarah - Frank Scott aged 11, Eric aged 8, Edna aged 6 (misnamed on the ship’s manifesto as Edward) and Cyril aged 2. Arthur and the Allen family obviously made friends on board ship as when they arrived in Wellington, Arthur lived with the family at 15 Adams Street, Brooklyn. Like Arthur, Joseph was a joiner. Arthur worked as a carpenter and joiner for Herbert Boddy in Brooklyn until he enlisted.
Arthur became firm friends with the oldest son of the Allen family, Frank, although there was a 12 year gap between them. They enlisted together at Trentham on 23 August 1915. Arthur was given the regimental number 4/1196. Arthur’s “apparent age” was 32, he was 5’5½” tall, weighed 108.6 pounds with fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. He had no illnesses and his teeth were “sufficient”. His religion was Unitarian.
After training at Trentham, Arthur embarked with 1st Field Company, New Zealand Engineers, on either the “Willochra” or “Tofua” on 13 November 1915 for Egypt. His friend Frank had also been assigned to the Engineers, and sailed in the same transport. They were in Egypt training until April 1916 when, once again together, they embarked on the “Minnewaska” for France. In July 1916 Frank was wounded slightly and from then on the two men had very different war experiences.
Arthur was unscathed until 19 April 1917 when he received gunshot wounds to his face and body and he was hospitalised. The wounds were obviously slight, as after 11 days he was able to be discharged to his unit, rejoining them on 30 April 1917. The Engineers were busy preparing for the Battle of Messines which was to be launched on 7 June starting with huge explosions under positions on or near the German front line from underground dynamite caches. It can reasonably be assumed that Sapper Smith was amongst one of the many work parties kept busy building roads, trenches, access routes and myriad other essential tasks in the lead up to the Battle, and then throughout the following days of the Battle which lasted until 14 June.
“The tactical objective of the attack at Messines was to capture the German defences on the ridge, which ran from on the cemetery database ("Plugstreet") Wood in the south through Messines and Wytschaete to Mt. Sorrel, to deprive the German Fourth Army of the high ground south of Ypres. …..British attacks from 8–14 June advanced the front line beyond the former German Sehnen (Oosttaverne) line. The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres campaign, the preliminary bombardment for which began on 11 July. ….Military analysts and historians disagree on the strategic significance of the battle, although most describe it as a British tactical and operational success”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_%281917%29
Arthur survived the battle, but less than one week later, on 18 June 1917, he was killed in action. No details of how or exactly where he died are recorded, and the place of death is simply noted in his military personnel file as being “France or Belgium”. Arthur was 34 when he died. He was buried in Plot VI.B.6 at the Strand Military Cemetery, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium, which is 13 kilometres south of Ypres.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website provides a description of the Strand Military Cemetery:
“'Charing Cross' was the name given by the troops to a point at the end of a trench called the Strand, which led into Ploegsteert Wood. In October 1914, two burials were made at this place, close to an Advanced Dressing Station,
The cemetery was not used between October 1914 and April 1917, but in April-July 1917 Plots I to VI were completed. Plots VII to X were made after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from some small cemeteries and from the battlefields lying mainly between Wytschaete and Armentieres”.
Arthur’s war service entitled him to the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, these medals going to his mother Ellen Smith in Halifax in 1922.
Frank Allen survived the war. His name is also on the Brooklyn Memorial, amongst the names of many men of the district who served and returned home. In 1921 his sister Edna married Douglas Rutherford, the twin brother of John Donald (Don) Rutherford who is also named on the Brooklyn Memorial. Don’s story is here.
Research conducted by Ann Walker with supplementary input by Barbara Mulligan
SOURCES
Archives New Zealand: http://archway.archives.govt.nz/
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/locations
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org
National Library of New Zealand – Papers Past: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast