Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Grave: | Tyne Cot Cemetery | VIII. G. 1. | |
| 2. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 16D GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Son of Mrs. Lucy Smiles, of Strandtown, Belfast.Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles |
1st Battalion August 1914 : in Aden. Returned to UK and landed at Liverpool on 22 October 1914. Moved to Hursley Park and came under command of to 25th Brigade in 8th Division. 6 November 1914 : landed at Le Havre. 3 February 1918 : transferred to 107th Brigade in 36th (Ulster) Division. |
| Action : The Battles of Ypres 1917 (Third Ypres, or Passchendaele) |
31 July - 10 November 1917. By the summer of 1917 the British Army was able for the first time to fight on its chosen ground on its terms. Having secured the southern ridges of Ypres at Messines in June, the main attack started on 31st July 1917 accompanied by what seemed like incessant heavy rain, which coupled with the artillery barrages conspired to turn much of the battlefield into a bog. Initial failure prompted changes in the high command and a strategy evolved to take the ring of ridges running across the Ypres salient in a series of 'bite and hold' operations, finally culminating in the capture of the most easterly ridge on which sat the infamous village of Passchendaele. The Official History carries the footnote ?The clerk power to investigate the exact losses was not available? but estimates of British casualties range from the official figure of 244,000 to almost 400,000. Within five months the Germans pushed the British back to the starting line, which was where they had been since May 1915.
Detail :
William Homes Smiles, who founded the Belfast Rope Works in the early 1870s,was the son of Dr Samual Smiles,the author of the Victorian classic,Self Help. William Smiles lived at Westbank House on the Palmerston Road Sydenham Belfast Co Antrim Northern Ireland. Mrs Lucy Smiles was half sister to Mrs Beeton the Victorian cookery expert. The Smiles family had eleven children. William Smiles and Gustav Wolff of Harland and Wolff Belfast founded the Belfast Rope Works in the second World War one third of the ropes required by the war office (a quarter of a million tons were made at the Belfast Rope Works, in addition it manufactured 50,000 camouflage and cargo nets. The Smiles family give a lot to Northern Ireland they also give their two sons who were both killed in action 2nd Lieutenant Samuel Smiles1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. killed in Action 16th August 1917, aged 36 years, and Captain William Alan Smiles 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, killed in Action 9th July 1916 aged 34 years
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Lodge Star of the South No. 1025 E.C. | South America (South) |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
19th May 1913 | 7th July 1913 | 18th August 1913 |
The contribution record of the lodge shows "Died on Active Service Aug 1917."
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley