Frank Smith

Frank Smith was born in Hambledon in 1892, the son of Emma Agnes Smith and grandson of William and Keziah Smith. He grew up largely in his grandparents’ household at Green Lane, part of a long established village family. Like many boys of rural background he entered military service at a young age rather than agricultural work, and by 1911 he was already serving as a soldier with the 1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment at Alma Barracks, Farnborough.

The battalion spent the early years of the war in India and then in Mesopotamia, the British campaign fought along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. This theatre differed greatly from the Western Front: instead of trenches and mud, soldiers endured extreme heat, dust, disease and long river operations. Supply lines were difficult and medical facilities limited, making the campaign particularly costly.

In 1916 the British army advanced toward Baghdad but suffered a serious reverse when a force was surrounded and besieged at Kut-al-Amara. Later that year a renewed offensive began along the Tigris to restore the situation and re-establish control of the region. The fighting involved river crossings, attacks on fortified positions and long marches in oppressive temperatures. During this phase of operations Frank Smith died on 29th August 1916 at the age of twenty-three.

He is buried at Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery. Far from the fields of Hambledon where he had grown up, he became one of the village men lost in one of the war’s lesser known but arduous campaigns, fought thousands of miles from Europe in harsh desert conditions.