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Pte. Robert Henry Smith
Australian Imperial Force D Company 33rd Battalion
from:Tingha, New South Wales
(d.12th Oct 1917)
Private Robert Henry Smith, 1257, was a young miner from Tingha, NSW, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Smith of Ruby St. Tingha. He joined D Company 33rd Battalion, 3rd Division, 9th Brigade, 1st AIF, at Armidale on 28 January 1916. He sailed to the Western Front on HMAT Marathon on 4th May 1916. Trained in England for a period and arrived at the Western Front on 27 November 1916.
Robert participated in the successful battle of Messines, launched on 7 June 1917. A number of 33Bdn soldiers lie in the nearby Mud Corner cemetery, close to Ploegsteert Wood. Robert continued on to the 3rd Battle of Ypres (1st battle of Passchendaele). From Zonnebeke Robert advanced with 33Bdn and assisted in dislodging the German army from the high ground of Tyne Cot on 4 Oct 1917. Robert continued on with the push towards Passchendaele which commenced on 12 Oct 1917 in appalling conditions, and sadly ended in defeat, with many young Australians left lying dead in the mud.
Robert was a scout with the Battalion, but as all Scouts had been ordered back to their respective Companies prior to this last push, Robert had been detailed as a carrier with a group of other men. They had been relieved to withdraw a short distance for a break, and according to eye witness reports, a German high explosive shell landed nearby, killing him instantly, and wounding two of his comrades, who were sent to England to recover.
On 12th October 1917, at the age of 21 years and 5 months Robert died in the area of Augustus Wood (near the current Tyne Cot Cemetery). Like many thousands of other Australian soldiers who died in this theatre of war, Robert has no known grave site. However, his name appears on the Roll of Honour at the Menin Gate in Belgium. In memory of their son, Robert's name also appears on his mother's headstone in the Inverell cemetery.
