Ancestral Trails 2016 » Harry SMITH (1889-1917)

Données personnelles Harry SMITH 

• Il est né le 15 août 1889 dans Pirton, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.Les sources 1, 2
• Il a été baptisé le 6 octobre 1889 dans St Mary the Virgin, Pirton, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
• Professions:
• en l'an 1914 Farm Labourer at Walnut Tree Farm employed by Mr Franklin.
• en l'an 1911 Farm Labourer dans Nr "The Fox", Pirton.
• Il est décédé le 31 juillet 1917 dans Killed in action, Flanders, Belgium, il avait 27 ans.Source 3
• Il est enterré dans Tyne Tot Cemetery, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
• Un enfant de James SMITH et Lydia PEARCE

Famille de Harry SMITH

Notes par Harry SMITH

1891 aged 1, living near the Church with his parents, James and Lydia Smith, and siblings Mary L, James, Ruth, John, and Frank. 1901 aged 11, living at Holmes Cottages, Pirton with his parents and siblings, Ruth, John and Frank, and niece Lizzie Priscilla Smith. 1911 aged 21, living near "The Fox" PH, Pirton with his parents, James and Lydia Smith, and brother John. Up to 1914 he had been working for Mr Franklin of Walnut Tree Farm and probably joined the army shortly after the start of the war. Writing to his former employer, Mr Franklin, in January 1917 he says he and his mates were all safe & sound. He describes the muddy condition of the trenches in which they had to stand for twelve hours, but made light of the experience, as they had good fires to go to afterwards, at which they dried their clothing. "When we were in the trenches", he adds, "we started singing, Germans heard us. They had the cheek to get on top of their trenches and waved their hats to us, but we soon made them get lower by putting a few bullets into them. They were only two hundred yards from us. We are expecting to go in the trenches very soon, but in a different place. We enjoyed ourselves on Christmas Day as well as we could expect, but live in hopes of having a better one next time. The Herts (regiment) have been lucky up to the present, and hope to remain lucky enough to get home safe, we are still merry and keep in good heart". A few weeks later he wrote to someone at Pirton asking to be remembered to friends, as he could not write to them all. Alluding to a friend at the Front, also from the village, he says his friend is anxious that his sweetheart "should keep the rice handy for the wedding, as we shall soon be home to get married, when we will have a jolly good time - so cheer up, for we are not dead yet". Around this time Harry was promoted to Corporal H Smith, but on Tuesday 31st July, 1917 he was killed in action. Like millions of others, the circumstances of his death remain unknown, seemingly a victim of the horror called Passcendale, He was buried in the largest of all war cemeteries, Tyne Cot, Zonnebeke, at West-Vlaanderen in Belgium, Ref, 10.D. 5, He is one of some 15,000 laid to rest there a man of 27. He had been born, grown up, went to school and worked in the quietness, if relative poverty, of this part of North Hertfordshire; to die in the awfulness of countryside churned up by shellfire which turned to mud so deep that men sank up to their waists, guns and even tanks disappeared in this ocean of slime. He died in a period of family tragedy, for his was the third death in the family in only eight months. His older brother James had died in 1911. Whilst in the trenches, Harry learnt of the death of his father, James, in December 1916. Less than four months later, his mother Lydia died in April 1917, pre-deceasing her youngest son, Harry, by less than four months. The Pirton man who had written in January 1917, 'but live in hopes of having a better Christmas next time' was never to know. SOURCE: Clare Baines, Michael Newbery, Pete Lake Lynda Smith www.roll-of-honour.com and that local history gem 'A Foot on Three Daisies'. 1917 Corporal 265408. 1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment. Killed in action Tuesday 31 July 1917. Born, lived and enlisted Pirton. Buried: TYNE COT CEMETERY, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Ref. X. D. 5. SOURCE www.roll-of-honour.com On the War Memorial, In memory of the men of this parish who died in the Great War 1914-1918, also on C19 Roll of Honour.

Avez-vous des renseignements supplémentaires, des corrections ou des questions concernant Harry SMITH?
L'auteur de cette publication aimerait avoir de vos nouvelles!

Barre chronologique Harry SMITH

Cliquez sur le nom pour plus d'information. Symboles utilisés:  grand-parents    parents    frères/soeurs    enfants