Charles Michael SMITH (5765)

Charles was born in 1891 in Sydney, NSW, Australia the third child and eldest son of George Walter SMITH (1867-1915) and Bridget COFFEY (1866-1965).

In 1915, Charles married Vera Tandy and then in September of that year he enlisted in the AIF. From a family of performers / dancers, Charles gave his occupation as Vaudeville Artist. In his papers he is described as 5ft 3 1/2 inches with brown hair and blue eyes. Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 18th Reinforcements, Charles left Australia in June 1916 aboard the Kyarra.

During his time overseas, he served in France and Belgium. However his time on active duty was interspersed with periods of admission to hospital for various ailments including severe myalgia, impetigo, lumbago and ezcema.

The 2nd Battalion had arrived in France in March 1916 and from then until 1918 the battalion took part in operations against the German Army, principally in the Somme Valley in France and around Ypres in Belgium. The battalion’s first major action in France was at Pozières in the Somme valley in July 1916. Later the battalion fought at Ypres, in Flanders, before returning to the Somme for winter.

In early 1917 the German Army withdrew to the formidable defences of the Hindenburg Line. As the 2nd Battalion advanced towards these defences in April 1917, Private T. J. Kenny attacked several enemy machine gun positions with grenades, earning the 2nd Battalion's only Victoria Cross. The battalion spent much of the rest of 1917 fighting in increasingly horrendous conditions around Ypres.

Charles left England in July 1917 per Demosthenes and arrived back in Sydney in September. After spending time in hospital, he was discharged because of his ezcema in November 1917.

Family memory has it that Charles suffered from tuberculosis after his return to Australia and he passed away in January 1926 at only 35 years of age.

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