The Soldier's Details
- Surname:
- Smith
- First Name:
- Raymond Matthew
- Nick Name:
- Ray or Bluey
- Rank:
- Private
- Regimental #:
- WX7904
- Company:
- Headquarters Company, No. 3 Platoon
- Enlisted:
- 13.08.1940
- DOB:
- 2.02.1906
- Place of Birth:
- Perth, Western Australia
- Father's Name:
- Matthew Dunlop Smith
- Mothers's Name:
- Gertrude Josephine Smith
- Religion:
- Roman Catholic
- Pre-war Occupation:
- Mines Clerk
- Memorial:
- Kranji War Cemetery, Plot 2, Row D, Grave 15, Age 26.
- Singapore:
- Selarang Camp Changi
- Cause of Death:
- Dysentery and Toxemia
- Place of Death:
- A. G. H. Roberts Barracks Changi
- Date of Death:
- 19.04.1942
- Buried:
- Grave No. 26, A.l.F. Cemetery, Changi
General Description
Blue enlisted AIF Aug 1940 later joined 2/4th and HQ Company No. 3 Platoon. (as did Jim Quinn).
Smith was admitted to 2/10th Australian General Hospital with an infected cyst on 1.2.1942. He was operated on the same day and discharged to unit on 13.2.1942. He was admitted to Australian General Hospital again on 9.4.1942, but died ten days later. Soldier was buried at 1000 hours on 20.4.1942, the funeral service being conducted by Chaplain F. X. Corry from 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion.
Bluey was a Collie boy enlisting the same day as Tom Davidson, Harry Fuhrmann, Jack Isaac, Tom Finlay, ‘Toona’ Simmonds and ‘Bluey’ Quinn.
Bluey’s name is forever remembered on the WW2 War Memorial, Collie.
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Blue’s parents Matthew Dunlop Smith and Gertrude Josephine McGuiness married Perth 1905. They had a large family resided in Collie where Matthew was a railway guard. Raymond Matthew was the eldest of nine children.
In 1915 their third son Cyril James tragically died at the age of 5 years.
The Smith’s learnt their son Harold William, who was married and brother to Blue, enlisted with RAAF had died Oct 1943.
Matthew Smith died at Collie 1946 and his wife Gertrude died 1963. They had lost two sons to WW2.
Camp Locations:
- Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
