George Smith - Lest We Forget

George Smith was born October 17, 1892 at Aberdeen, Scotland. The 1911 census claims that George was born in 1891 and came to Canada in1904. He was an employee at the King Edward Hotel, for 39 weeks in 1910. He also appears to have worked for 13 weeks as a Wiper for the CPR. On his 1915 attestation paper he gave his next of kin as his father, John Smith of Lumby, B.C.  He was also known to live in Lavington, B.C., near Vernon.

 George Smith signed his enlistment papers March 3, 1915 at Victoria. His regimental number was 43046. He was 22 or 23 years old, single, 5’ 5” tall with fair hair and grey eyes. His religious affiliation was Presbyterian. At that time he was working as a locomotive fireman for the CPR.

 George Smith died June 3, 1916 during the battle for Mount Sorrel. He was 23 or 24 years old. At the time of his death he was a Private with the 3rd Battalion, Canadian Pioneers. His body was never found or identified and his name is memorialized on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial, Belgium. 

George Smith’s brother, Private Alex S. Smith, who had enlisted May 18, 1916 at Vernon, died of wounds October 12th 1916 near Courcelette. He was with the 102nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario) Regiment.  e was 27 years old and is buried at Contay British Cemetery, France. It appears that George and Alexander’s parents, John and Margaret Giles Smith, moved back to Aberdeen, Scotland, at the end of the war.

 The name of George Smith is inscribed on the Courthouse plaque as Smith, G.  On the cenotaph plaque the name inscribed is Smith, C.