General News
24 August, 2023
Dimboola's 'forgotten soldier' acknowledged at last
For 58 years a Dimboola serviceman has lain in an unmarked grave, but that is hopefully about to change thanks to the efforts of his nephew, Ross Smith. Thomas Harry Smith was born in Dimboola on July 17 1922, a son of James William and Kate Rebecc...
For 58 years a Dimboola serviceman has lain in an unmarked grave, but that is hopefully about to change thanks to the efforts of his nephew, Ross Smith.
Thomas Harry Smith was born in Dimboola on July 17 1922, a son of James William and Kate Rebecca Smith.
He had two sisters, Nellie and Ruby, and two brothers, Leslie (known as Les) and Alec.
James and Kate raised their family on a farm at Gerang Gerung and following their deaths - James in 1950 and Kate in 1971 - were buried in Nhill.
As a young man, Thomas worked in a timber yard in Box Hill, Melbourne.
He served in the Citizen Military Force before joining the army in Surrey Hills in 1941.
He was sent to New Guinea in July 1942 and spent more than 600 days in overseas service with the 54th Australian Anti Aircraft Regiment of the Australian Imperial Force.
When World War II ended he was discharged and returned to Melbourne, settling back into familiar civilian work.
"A limited amount of detail is known about Thomas," according to his nephew, Ross Smith, himself a veteran, having served in Vietnam.
"Tom was in the first wave to go to New Guinea, with little training.
"Australia apparently had no other soldiers to send.
"Scary stuff.
"His battery travelled to many places around Australia as well.
"Thomas did not marry, had no children and led rather a reclusive type life, living in a boarding house in Oakleigh.
"In 1965, at the age of 43, he was shot and killed, I believe through mistaken identity."
As far as the younger generation of Smiths knew, Thomas had been buried in Melbourne.
However, earlier this year the story took an unexpected twist.
"Fast forward 58 years to March," Mr Smith said.
"At the time of my mother's funeral - she was 100.5 years old - two certificates presented by Dimboola Shire in appreciation of service dating back to February 14 1946 were located behind a wardrobe in her home in Ouyen."
The first certificate related to Thomas, the second to his elder brother (and Ross's late father), Leslie James Smith, born on January 1 1919, also in Dimboola.
"This project started off when my sister Pam handed me the first Dimboola certificate, our dad's, in Ouyen," Mr Smith said.
"My wife, Carmel, said 'What are you going to do with this?' so I decided on the way home to Traralgon that I would get it reframed and present it to the Dimboola RSL.
"They were kind enough to accept the certificate and ask for a photo.
"Then along came Tom's as well.
"The RSL agreed to display it too, and they have both been restored and presented now."
Mr Smith said his father was the first of the two brothers to sign up.
"Dad enlisted in the army in July 1940 in Caulfield," Mr Smith said.
"He was a farmhand at Lismore before enlistment.
"Dad’s records tell a similar story to Tom's, whereby he travelled to many places around Australia and the world.
"He saw 409 days of overseas service, attached to the 2/3 Light Anti Aircraft Regiment.
"His service included time in the Middle East, Palestine, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), New Guinea, Morotai and Balikpapan in Borneo, where he was wounded.
"At one stage he was attached to the Americans and was a rear gunner in an aircraft – 'airborne' is listed in his service record.
"He talked a lot about this and other experiences but we were too young to comprehend the impact it had on his life."
Mr Smith said his father was AWOL a few times and also had extended leave granted, including to accompany his friend and soon-to-be-brother-in-law to Camperdown.
"Dad met Uncle Stan in the army and went home to Camperdown on leave with him," he said.
"That’s where he met Mum.
"Uncle Stan and Dad served in the same regiment.
"I don't have Stan's record but I do know they served together: 'brother-in-laws in arms'.
"On discharge at the end of the war Dad became a soldier-settler at Boorcan in the Western District (just west of Camperdown).
"He moved from the dairy farm at Boorcan in the early 1970s due to ill health to retire on a small block near Ross Creek, near Ballarat.
"Les and Winifred, my parents, had four children: Barry, me Ross, Laurie and Pamela.
"We were all raised on the family farm.
"Dad led a reclusive life, like Tom, as a dairy farmer and died in 1994.
"He's buried in the Ballarat cemetery.
"Mum then moved to Ouyen and is buried there."
And, for Mr Smith, another, even more astounding revelation was to come.
He had never known his grandfather James or uncle Thomas, so trying to unravel his family history was "a big journey".
"It was always thought by our family that Thomas was buried in Oakleigh," he said.
"But further research into our family history and cemetery records located his grave site in Dimboola cemetery.
"This is an unmarked grave: number 53."
Mr Smith is now working to have a memorial headstone installed to appropriately honour one of the district's previously unacknowledged war veterans.
He has already advertised his intention and, assuming no-one objects by the end of this month, he will complete his project.
"The war graves people have given their authority for the headstone and the Dimboola Cemetery trust has been most helpful, as has the RSL," Mr Smith said.
"Unfortunately I can't add any other details about Thomas but I hope someone with a family connection will come forward.
"These two brothers from Dimboola served their country, with Thomas being unwittingly forgotten for many years."
