Samuel Smith was working as a carter in the Oamaru area when he enlisted in the Otago Infantry Regiment. Peacetime military service wod have ensured his rapid promotion to Sergeant. He landed on Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25 and the next day his Company, the 10th was ordered into the line.
"As part of the various dispositions which this order affected, 10th Company of the Otago Battalion, under Major G. Mitchell, was despatched to reinforce the line held by troops of the 3rd Australian Brigade at a point known as Steel's Post, and remained there for two days. There was continuous and bitter fighting over that period, and the losses were heavy; among those killed being Lieut. J. G. Cowan." -Official History, OIR.
Sergeant Samuel Baldwin Smyth, son of Mr William Smyth, of Oamaru, was educated at the South School, and afterwards at Waitaki Boys' High School. From there he went into the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company's office, and later joined his father's business. He was thought much of by all who knew him, being well-known as a young man of high moral character, possessing courage that at all times enabled him at all times to stand up for his convictions. He left his father's business in answer to the call to defend his country's freedom, and was about, twenty-two years of age when he enlisted, going from here with the first batch of volunteers last August. During yesterday morning's service at the Baptist Church, of which Sergeant Smyth was a highly esteemed member —the news of his death at the Dardanelles was announced. A tribute was paid to his sterling worth, and sympathy expressed with his family, by the congregation rising while the Rev. Frank McDonald offered prayer. -North Otago Times, 14/6/1915.
SUNDAY SERVICES
B A P T I S T C H U R C H.
SEVERN STREET.
11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. The evening service will be a memorial service in connection with the death of Private Samuel Smyth, killed in action at the Dardanelles. -North Otago Times, 19/6/1915.
OAMARU BOY'S DEATH
END OF A DESPERATE FIGHT,
GRIM RELIC PROM THE TRENCHES
Tattered and torn, perforated by bullet, holes; and finally disfigured from cover to cover with an ugly gash suggestive of a death-dealing bayonet thrust, a small-black pocket book, previously carried by Sergeant S. B. Smyth, and used by him as a diary, found its way back to Oamaru on Friday last. It is a grim relic, pregnant with bitter associations, a relic of a desperate fight where no quarter was asked and none was given, and of the death of a brave man who did his duty to the last, and met his end where the fray was thickest.
The dairy gives a brief resume of the events which led up to the landing of the Australians and New Zealanders at Sari Bair, and the subsequent establishment of the camp at Anzac Cove. The last page contains an account of an expedition undertaken by a party of twenty New Zealanders in search of snipers. Then follows the sentence. "The shelling is incessant . . . (portion torn away by bullet hole) . . .
One landed yesterday four inches from where I was sleeping and . . . perforated my equipment. . . .
On the next page there is this: "Found by Trooper H. C. Birch, near Courtenay's Hill (2nd Light Horse Regiment, 1st Australian and New Zealand, Division). I found this book on the dead body of Sergeant Smyth on the morning of the 23rd May, during the eight hours' armistice granted to the Turks to bury their dead. Sergeant Smyth's body was lying amongst a lot of dead Turks, and he must have been in a very desperate fight when his end came. If his family receive this, which I hope they will write to my father giving their address, and if I come through safely I will give them all particulars in connection with their son." (Here follows the address mentioned).
The father of the dead soldier, Mr Wm. Smyth, of Oamaru, has received the following letter from Captain E. Vine, of the Records Office, Wellington:
"My Dear Mr Smyth — The duty of forwarding to you this silent witness from your late son has been the most solemn one that has fallen to my lot since I entered upon my official duties' in Wellington. You will probably never receive any clearer indication of Sergeant Smyth's death than that conveyed to you by the numerous bullet holes in the pocket book. I have forwarded it to you as I received it from the front. You will see there is a note and also a direction to page 20 of the, diary on which some remarks are made which will be of interest to you. I need hardly add that the pocketbook shows that your son fell a victim to the deadly machine gun; and it will be a consolation to you to know that any rate he would be spared any suffering, for no mortal frame could stand the onslaught that was apparently made upon him and live for many minutes. To me Sergeant Smyth's death is particularly regrettable not only because I numbered him among my personal acquaintances, but also because of the great respect I have for yourself and your family generally. Moreover, I always regarded him as one of the best non-commissioned officers attached to my company in Oamaru. I wish to convey to yourself, to Mrs Smyth and to your sons and daughters, my heartfelt sympathy at the great trial which has been thrust upon you.
"I am sending this little memento under cover of registered post with a request to the Chief Postmaster, Oamaru, to deliver it to you personally, and should be glad to have your acknowledgement thereof.''
It was announced yesterday that Mr Smyth's second son, Sergeant Ernest Smyth, had been severely wounded. -North Otago Times, 17/8/1915.
KILLED IN ACTION.
DEATH OF SERGEANT S. B. SMYTH.
A COMRADE'S TRIBUTE.
Some time ago we published an account of the death of Sergeant S.B. Smyth, of Oamaru, as conveyed in the official announcement to his parents. In that connection we were also permitted to see, and to exhibit for a short time, the diary which had been taken from the dead body of Sergeant Smyth, and forwarded as part of the evidence of death, to his relatives by the base records officials. The diary, it will be remembered, bore the unmistakeable marks of machine gun bullets and also a mark that was considered to be the result of a bayonet thrust. Accompanying the official intimation there was a brief note from a comrade of the late sergeant, who had recovered the diary referred to, in which it was stated that if the writer came through all right he would write more fully to Sergeant Smyth's parents regarding his finding of the body of their son.
True to promise, and a significant witness to the spirit of comradeship existing between the men on service, the soldier has written to Mr W. Smyth, and some extracts from the letter which we are permitted to make will show afresh the intensity of the fighting during which Sergeant. Smyth met his death, and also the bond of fellowship that existed between the men with whom he was associated.
The letter has come by a round-about route to Oamaru. The writer, having lost the address of Sergeant Smyth's relatives, addressed the letter to the dead soldier, knowing that in due course it would be forwarded to his next-of-kin. Bearing a Sydney postal address, and dated 12th January, 1916, the letter states that the writer was wounded on the 7th August while leading a bombing party during the general advance on that date. After being in Egyptian hospitals until the end of October, the writer was invalided home to Australia, and reached Sydney on the 29th November. Sergeant Smyth's comrade proves to be Trooper H. E. Birch, of the 2nd Australian Light Horse, and in the engagement referred to had his left forearm shattered and suffered from septic poisoning. Several operations have restored partially the use of the .wounded wrist; and hand.
Telling of the action in which Sergeant Smyth fell, Trooper; Birch says that on the 18th and 19th of May the Turks attacked massed formation and were absolutely mowed down, the attack being repulsed along the whole line, the enemy casualties being very heavy. An armistice was granted for the burying of the dead on the 24th of May. The scene between the opposing trenches was indescribable, it being impossible in places to avoid stepping on the bodies of dead Turks. It was during these operations, that Trooper Birch discovered the body of Sergeant Smyth, amidst a group of the slain of the enemy. The only means of identification was found in the contents of the dead sergeant's pockets, and these had been duly forwarded to the Base Headquarters. One of the chaplains read the burial service, and Sergeant Smyth lies buried near the enemy trenches he was charging.
The writer expresses a strong abhorrence of war after his Gallipoli experiences, and also his deep sympathy with the relatives of Sergeant Smyth. He mentions also several of his own relatives who have laid down their lives in the Empire's cause.
Accompanying the letter is also a diagram showing the Anzac position at Gallipoli and the spot (Courtenay's Post) where Sergeant Smyth was buried. -North Otago Times, 27/4/1916.
Ernest Smyth was a matchmaker - a maker of matches rather than marriages - working for his father's business in Oamaru but residing in Hawera when he enlisted in the Wellington Infantry Regiment. He survived the fighting only to succumb to the insanitary conditions of the campaign.
INTO the welter of the 8th August, the 5th Reinforcements had been plunged. Not many of them survived. The Regiment was but a shattered remnant now as it bivouacked on the side of Cheshire Ridge. Including the additions from the 5th Reinforcements, West Coast Company numbered only 51 instead of its full strength of 227. Other companies were in similar plight.
Water was very scarce and the daily ration was one quart. If we drank it, we could not wash; but we were not fussy about our personal appearance these days. Nearly everyone had grown a beard. There were no company cooks and everyone had to do his own cooking. At dusk, we would go into the partly formed trenches on Cheshire Ridge and remain there until daylight. We had not only to be on the alert for an attack from the Turks but to widen and deepen the trench at the same time. The days in the trenches were hellish. The heat of the sun was terrific. Diarrhoea and dysentry were rampant. Flies were a torment. Splendid fellows of a few months ago were little more than scare-crows. We were but hanging on now. There were spells in the front line at Rhododendron Spur or at the Apex varied with days in reserve in Rhododendron Gully. It was all deadly monotonous. Everyone now had dysentry and was fast reaching the limit of physical endurance. They were indeed grim days.
MEMORIAL SERVICE
THE LATE SERGEANT SMYTH HONOURED.
A memorial service was conducted at the Baptist Church last evening in honour of Sergeant Smyth, who died from wounds received in action at the Dardanelles. The Rev. George Lawrence was the preacher, and there was a large congregation.. The Rev. Mr Lawrence took as his text "Honour the King" and "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." After recounting the tragic incidents which led to the great war, the preacher said that over the bodies of the victims of German Kultur, the violator of a solemn treaty had fallen from his high estate, and was now an outcast among the nations. Belgium, brave and faithful, had been called upon to bear the fierceness of the attack of the cruel, bloodthirsty tyrant. Unhappy Belgium paid a great price in the sacking of her beautiful cities, her university city, her libraries, her architecture, her works of art, her cathedrals, and the murder of her women and children. When Germany attacked Belgium a cry rang round the earth, and the nations heard. France had taken her place at the forefront, and, amid repulses and victories, she held her ground, and gradually pushed back the invader. Britain had called her sons from the ends of the earth, and from Canada, India, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand they came to take their place in the tight for freedom. Russia, with her tens of millions, had caught the enthusiasm,-and had taken her place with the Allies, never to cease fighting until the common enemy had been utterly subdued.
The preacher said that just as the United States of America commemorated the 4th of July as Independence Day and France kept the 14th of July as her Festival. Day, so will the British nation honour the 4th of August as a memorial of the day when we declared war against Germany in order to maintain our good name, by defending the honour of Luxembourg and Belgium. The men who went forward were defending everything the nation held dear. They were defending the native land, the sunny, fertile land, God's own country; the velds, pastures, flocks, the churches, cathedrals, and universities. They are defending their honour, their children, their sea ports which shelter their commerce and industries — the very things which make us a happy, wealthy nation. They were defending their liberty, which had cost so much in blood and tears. They were defending their language, their laws, their customs, their creeds, and their traditions, their arts and their sciences. With the Belgians, French, Russians, Serbs, and Italians, they were defending their hearths and homes; but Europe, troubled Europe, had to be saved from the clamouring ambition of German militarism. Along with the Homeland, New Zealand has suffered. New Zealand's casualty list had recorded to date 5000 dead, wounded, and missing. There had been 1500 killed.
Referring to Sergeant Ernest Smyth's death, the preacher said his name had first appeared with those who had been wounded, but later reports came to hand that he had since contracted enteric fever and had passed to the Great Beyond. The sergeant was among the first to enlist, and left with the Main Expeditionary Force for Egypt, later participating in the memorable landing at the .Dardanelles. He was an old Oamaru boy, and had attended the Baptist Sunday School. The late sergeant was the second son of Mr and Mrs W. Smyth to lay down his life for his country. The heroes were dead. They died fighting for liberty. They died that the nation might live. They were at rest. In the midst of battle, in the roar of the conflict, they had .willingly made the supreme sacrifice in the fight for justice and liberty, and had found the serenity of death.
During the service special hymns were sung, and at the close the Dead March in Saul was played. -North Otago Times, 13//9/1915.
Oamaru Cemetery.
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