Smith, H (Henry)
Smith, H (Henry)
Private Henry Smith entered the conflict on the 13th April 1915 with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was from Kentish town, Middlesex.
When Henry landed in France the rest of the battalion were already entrenched southeast of the town Ypres[1], near the Sanctuary and Armagh woods. By the end of April 1915, they had received 117 dead or wounded. Many of these casualties were caused by the need to transport supplies while under shell fire. Others happened in the trenches.
The beginning of May found the entire division withdraw to new trenches much closer to Sanctuary Woods. Here the shelling became worse, and casualties continued from the supply runs. One shelling incident resulted in more than 50 dead or wounded. They then moved to the Bellewaerde Farm[2] area and onto the west of Ypres to rest and resupply.
Whilst here, heavy casualty reports started to come in from the front and the air was full of the smell of chlorine. More than 1000 dead or wounded was reported. The Germans were using gas.
Later the Irish Fusiliers moved to an area called Houplines.[3] The month ended with a toll of 198 dead or wounded luckily though June was a quieter month with only 34 casualties.
The battalion remained in the Houplines area until July when they moved to Bois-Grenier.[4] They had another quiet month here with only 25 dead and wounded.
August saw even lower casualties with only 8 wounded, September only 4 wounded and 5 during October. November found them being sent to Salonika, Greece. Thankfully, their war in France had ended quietly. By this time Henry Smith had transferred to the 3rd Battalion for unknown reasons.
The 3rd Reserve battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers was based in Buncrana, Donegal from April 1915. They were due to move to Clonmany during November 1916.
Private Smith passed away in the Military Hospital, Londonderry from unknown reasons, possibly from the side effects of gas or wounds he received on the front.
Henry was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals.
Date of Death: 05/11/1916
Service: Private, Royal Irish Fusiliers, 2nd, and 3rd Battalion.
Service Number: 13233
Burial Location: Londonderry (or Derry), City Cemetery, GA. Mil. 11.
[1] Ypres is in southern Belgium.
[2] Bellewaerde Farm area is just a few miles east of Ypres.
[3] Houplines is an area in northern France, around 12 miles south of Ypres.
[4] Bois-Grenier is an area in northern France, about 4 miles south of Houplines.
