The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War

Cpl. Cecil Springett Smith British Army 12th (Bantams) Suffolk Regiment


Great War>


This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.


If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.



    Site Home

    Great War Home

    Search

    Add Stories & Photos

    Library

    Help & FAQs

 Features

    Allied Army

    Day by Day

    RFC & RAF

    Prisoners of War

    War at Sea

    Training for War

    The Battles

    Those Who Served

    Hospitals

    Civilian Service

    Women at War

    The War Effort

    Central Powers Army

    Central Powers Navy

    Imperial Air Service

    Library

    World War Two

 Submissions

    Add Stories & Photos

    Time Capsule

 Information

    Help & FAQs



    Glossary

    Our Facebook Page

    Volunteering

    News

    Events

    Contact us

    Great War Books

    About


Advertisements

World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment

213476

Cpl. Cecil Springett Smith

British Army 12th (Bantams) Suffolk Regiment

from:Edwardstone, Suffolk

Cecil Smith was my maternal grandfather. I have no knowledge of his service history beyond that he was a corporal in the Suffolk Bantams. He had volunteered at the beginning of the war but was rejected as he was only 5ft 6".

He never talked about any combat but when, as a young child, I sat at his knee he told me tales of marching in France. My only real recollection of such tales was one around the fact that he smoked a pipe. Having grown up in the country and worked as a farmhand, thatcher and repairer of farm carts he had learned how to keep his pipe alight by placing a tightly folded green plant leaf, (such as a burdock or thistle) in the top of the bowl. This would keep the tobacco in the bowl and reduce the amount of air getting to it. When the order was given to "stand easy" he would pull the pipe out of his pocket, discard the leaf and give it a couple of hard puffs to get it going again. Apparently on one occasion they paused for a rest break on a route march and, seeing the smoke appear almost instantly the sergeant commented "you got that lit up quick corporal!"









Related Content:







Can you help us to add to our records?

The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them


Did your relative live through the Great War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial?

If so please let us know.

Do you know the location of a Great War "Roll of Honour?"

We are very keen to track down these often forgotten documents and obtain photographs and transcriptions of the names recorded so that they will be available for all to remember.

Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.




Celebrate your own Family History

Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Great War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.

Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.














The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers.

This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.

If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.


Hosted by:

The Wartime Memories Project Website

is archived for preservation by the British Library





Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved -

We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.