Private George Henry Smith (Rodney's Uncle Harry) had just celebrated his 20th birthday in November 1914 when he enlisted for Short Service (duration of the war) on December 14th 1914. Born at Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire England, he was a postal clerk in his civilian life.

He became a member of the Notts & Derby regiment, known as the Sherwood Foresters. The 9th Battalion of which he was part, was formed at Derby as part of the First New Army or K1. The 9th Battalion embarked for Mudros from Liverpool in July 1915, and were engaged in various activities around Helles before landing at Suvla Bay on 7th August 1915 at "B Beach" at what became known as the Suvla battlefield.

Commanding Officer was Lietenant Colonel L.A. Bosanquet. On 9th August the Battle for Scimitar Hill began at Chocolate Hill. The 33rd Brigade, Sherwood Foresters were engaged in establishing a network of trenches from the coast to the edge of Salt Lake in preparation for the August Offensive. Several major battles involving British, Australian and New Zealand forces took place at this time, including the attack on Lone Pine, a combined attack by the Anzacs on the Chunuk Bair heights and the Australian Light Horse attack at The Nek.

The Sherwood Foresters were sent forward to Hetman Chair to form a link between the Anzacs position and to the right of the Suvla position.

There is not much known of the movements of the Sherwood Foresters between 12 August and 21 August. They continued to man part of the line near Hetman Chair in preparation for the assault on the W Hills planned for 21st August 1915.

Private George Henry Smith, (20340), "A" Company, 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, died on 19th August 1915, killed in action. He was 20 years & 9 months of age. He would have almost certainly been killed in the area the Sherwood Foresters were holding around Hetman Chair, perhaps in the intermittent skirmishing that occured along the Suvla Front.

He has no known grave, and was probably buried in a field cemetery near Hetman Chair. After the war, these small battlefield cemeteries were consolidated into larger cemeteries at Green Hill, Lala Baba and Azamk. He is somewhere in an unmarked grave, and his name is recorded on Panel 150 at the Helles Memorial, as is his Commanding Officer Bosanquet. The three named cemeteries contain thousands of unknown soldiers from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries.

Rodney Smith