SMITH, Bertred George

Bertred, a son of James and Jane Smith, enlisted at Toowoomba, Queensland, in November 1915 when he was twenty-seven. His two younger brothers Benjamin and Mark had enlisted the previous year. Bertred joined the 34th Battalion and two months later deserted. In May 1916, he enlisted again at West Wallsend NSW, giving his occupation as Mechanic and address as Oklyn, Inverell.

Bertred joined the Machine Gun Company 1, Reinforcement 6 and sailed from Australia for England on HMAT A17 Port Lincoln in October. He transferred to the 3rd Division Machine Gun Company and was sent to France in September 1917. He was a Company Runner and fought at Ypres and Passchendaele. He returned to Australia and was medically discharged in May 1919. At the end of that year, he was awarded the Military Medal for ‘conspicuous courage and devotion to duty’ (Commonwealth Gazette No 135, 11 December 1919).

Bertred has his name inscribed on the Inverell and Ashford Honor Rolls.