George Smith

Service number: 11027 Screen Wall. B10. 6. 473C.

George Smith, born in 1885, came from a local Birmingham family, the eldest of four children and two sons born to Edwin and Mary Smith (née Watson). In 1909 he married Alice Jabbit, with whom he had five children, four daughters, including Alice and Gladys, and one son. The family lived on Pershore Avenue in Selly Park.

George joined the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Warwickshire Regiment, created as part of ‘Kitchener’s Army’ in 1914 in preparation for what Kitchener correctly anticipated to be a drawn out conflict. These battalions were formed prior to the introduction of conscription in 1916, which means George volunteered for service.

At the age of 29 at the outbreak of war, George would have been above the age of the average private soldier. The 11th Battalion saw extensive action throughout the war, including at Scarpe, Arleux and Menin Road, before being deployed as part of the British contingent at the Battle of Passchendaele.

It was during the battle that George was presumably wounded, returning home to Birmingham where he died on the 30th October 1917; the Battle of Passchendaele ended less than two weeks later on the 10th November, with little ground having been gained by either side.

Aerial view of the village of Passchendaele (north is to the right of the photo) before and after the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917.

This is photograph Q 42918A from the collections of the Imperial War Museums