Sergeant A E Smith was the son of Mr & Mrs H G Smith of West Wickham, and had two brothers also on military services; Lance-Corporal C Smith & Private T Smith.
Sergeant Smith was a member of the Royal engineers. Prior to WW1 he had been in Royal Engineers for 16 years and had gone through the South African War.
During World War 1 he was with the first troops forming the British Expeditionary Force and was with the first British troops to land in France.
He is mentioned several times in dispatches in the Bromley and District Times:
13th November 1914 – mentioned in dispatches
29th November 1914 – mentioned in dispatches – According to last news he is at Chatham helping to drill the new men.
11th December 1914 – mentioned in dispatches – wounded, but now recovered, but suffering from rheumatism
On the 17th March 1016, he was again mentioned in despatches, having been awarded the Medal of the Second Class of the Russian Order of St George.
Researched using the FREE database at www.militaryancestors.co.uk
