Not Forgotten, 3207 Lance Corporal William Oliver SMITH, 51 Battalion AIF, World War 1

Private William Oliver Smith, a farmer from Wyalkatchem and Bencubbin, was born and educated in Bailieston in Victoria, the son of William and Jessie Smith of Wirrate near Nagambie, Victoria. William
Smith took up Ningham Location 720 north of Bencubbin in 1910 and it appears that his brother James assisted him. Their eldest brother, Arthur Bertram Smith, farmed east of Wyalkatchem. It is thought that James and William Smith rode to Wyalkatchem where they took the train to Perth to enlist together on 17 August 1916.

William Smith enlisted in the 51st Battalion and spent time in the Clearing Hospital at Blackboy Hill with Influenza and then measles. His unit embarked from Fremantle on board HMAT A35 Berrima on 23
December 1916 with his brother Private James Smith and spent 2 days in the ship’s hospital on the way to England with Influenza, arriving at Hurdcott Camp on 21 February 1917. In March of 1917 Private
William Smith was again in hospital, this time for 21 days and again in early June with yet another bout of influenza just before leaving for France. On 19 June 1917 he proceeded overseas to France, being
taken on strength on 7 July and admitted to hospital with trench fever between 31 August and 10 October.

Arriving in France on 12 June 1916, the 51st moved into the trenches of the Western Front. Early in 1917, the battalion participated in the advance that followed the German withdrawl to the Hindenburg Line. Later in the year, the focus of the AIF’s operations moved to the Ypres sector in Belgium. There the battalion fought in the battle of Polygon Wood between 26 and 27 September. William’s brother James Smith was killed, presumably at Passchendaele, on 14 October 1917.

With the collapse of Russia in October 1917, a major German offensive on the Western Front was expected in early 1918. This occurred in France in late March and the 4th Division moved to defend positions around Dernancourt on the River Ancre. The 51st Battalion assisted in the repulse of a large German attack on 5 April, launching a critical counter-attack late in the day. The German threat remained until late April, and in the early hours of ANZAC Day 1918 the 51st participated in the attack to dislodge the enemy from Villers-Bretonneux. As part of the German Spring Offensive on the Western Front German forces captured Villers-Bretonneux from exhausted British defenders on 24 April 1918. The Australian 13th and 15th Brigades were brought forward and successfully recaptured the town. Private Smith was promoted to lance-corporal on 17 April 1918. He was reported missing in action and
later confirmed killed in action on 24 April 1918 at Villers-Bretonneux in France and was reinterred in the Adelaide Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux.
Private William Smith was the brother of Private James Smith of the 51st Battalion, killed in action on 14 October 1917 and of Private Peter Oliver Smith of the 44th Battalion. Private William Smith was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.