Belgian students search for a heroic WW2 soldier
Alex Gore • Published 25 Nov 2010 09:00
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TWO BELGIAN students are appealing for help in finding out more about a Second World War soldier from Reading buried in their homeland.
Phedra Van Daele and Kaatje De Moor were asked to pick an Allied soldier's grave and gather as much information about him as possible for a graduation project.
The students, who attend Sint-Lievenscollege in the city of Ghent, chose Private Henry H Smith, who is buried in St Amandsberg Communal Cemetery, and died on July 12, 1940, while serving with the 1st Battalion, Ox and Bucks Light Infantry. Pte Smith married Emily Frances Hopkins, from Reading, in late summer 1938.
Kaatje asked the Chronicle: "Who was he before and during the Second World War? Does he still have living relatives? How did he die? Our task is to find out everything about him. Can the people of Reading help us? We are looking for documents, photographs or copies of registers."
So far the 17-year-olds have discovered Pte Smith enlisted in the army in the mid-1930s and was moved to the Army Reserve in January 1937. He rejoined the Army when war broke out and was part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) which landed in France and Belgium.
Having reached Soignies, just south of Brussels, the BEF was driven back by the German advance and headed for the coast where the allied retreat ended with the mass evacuation at Dunkirk in June 1940.
Kaatje said: "As they retreated, everything was in confusion with congestion as masses of refugees were moving away from the German advance.
"The regiment had several desperate engagements holding the German army back, constantly under shell fire and attacked by dive bombers. Reports say Henry Smith was taken prisoner on May 19, 1940 and he was among the wounded casualties."
Kaatje and Phedra have managed to unearth a German totenliste (register of the dead) from 1941, which shows Pte Smith was admitted to the military hospital at Mont St. Amand, near Ghent, where he died of his wounds.
If you know any more about Private Henry Smith and his wife Emily, or details of his family, please email agore@berksmedia.co.uk or call 0118 955 3308
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 25 Nov 10
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