b. 1890 Batley, Yorkshire. d. 1956 Batley, Yorkshire.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 17/01/1919 Wizernes, France.
Smith was born in Batley in 1890 and became a mill hand, or twister as it would have been known, at G and J Stubley wool manufacturers in the town.
Mr Smith rose to the rank of Lance Corporal under the MMP and returned to France in support of the Royal Field Artilliery forces in 1918 and through 1919 prior to the Treaty of Versailles, where his bravery earned him the Albert Medal.
He was was invited to London to have the award presented to him by King George V.
Mr Smith married Jessica Boynes in March 1919, and settled into their family home in Soothill, Batley, which preceded a discharge from the MMP where his commanding officer cited his service as “exemplary” and that he was a “sober, hardworking and reliable man”.
Mr Smith and his wife went on to have four children, while he was also re-enlisted into the Territorial Army, showing a prowess within inter-regiment football tournaments, before a distinguished discharge in 1935.
The couple lived out their remaining years in Batley and Mr Smith’s post war employment included time as a coal butter and working locally for the Co-Operative, before he died in 1956.
AM CITATION:
The KING has ‘been pleased to award the Albert Medal to Lieutenant (acting Major) William Revell Smith, M.C., R.F.A., Sergeant Alexander Gibson, Royal Engineers, and Corporal James Smith, Military Mounted Police, in recognition of their gallantry in endeavouring to save life at Wizernes in January last. On the 17th January, 1919, a fire occurred at the brewery at Wizernes. In the engine room a Frenchman, whose cries for help could be heard, had been entombed by a fall of masonry which completely blocked the entrance. The upper part of the building was blazing fiercely, and the only entrance ‘to the engine room was by a small hole in the wall which carried the machinery belting. Major Smith, Sergeant Gibson, and Corporal Smith succeeded in making ,their way through this hole into the room, and worked for threequarters of an hour before: they exposed the head and shoulders of the entombed man, who was found to be dead. They undoubtedly risked their lives in endeavouring to save life, for a further collapse of masonry (which appeared imminent) would have completely cut off their exit.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BEING SOLD AT AUCTION ON 01/09/2024
