Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres | IX. B. 2. | |
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.136 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 29C GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Born in Putney, son of Ernest Theodore and Dora Fanny Smith when resident at 5 Carlton Place, Putney; later of 99, Little Cadogan Place, Sloane St., London. The 1901 census shows Dennis as an only child, resident with 7 servants, a butler, cook, housemaid, kitchenmaid, lady maid, Nurse and a groom!Dennis was baptised on 7th January 1897, unmarried at the time of death and his father, a solicitor, was granted his estate of £230 1s. 4d.
Education & Career :
By 1911, now aged 14 he had become a cadet of the Royal Naval College, Osborne Whippingham, Isle of White, where boys of 12 and upward were trained to become junior officers.
By 17th November 1914, it appears from the London Gazette that he had passed out of the Royal Military Academy as a Second Lieutenant, within the Corps of Royal Engineers.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: Royal Engineers |
| Action : France & Flanders |
France & Flanders covers all the dates and corresponding locations which are outside the official battle nomenclature dates on the Western Front. Therefore the actions in which these men died could be considered 'normal' trench duty - the daily attrition losses which were an everyday fact of duty on the Western Front.
Detail :
Birmingham Daily Post 7th September 1915 - "THEODORE-SMITH, Sec. Lieut. D., Royal Engineers [Second Lieutenant Dennis Theodore-Smith, the only son of Mr.and Mrs Theodore-Smith, of 99, Little Cadogan Place, was educated at Osborne and Dartmouth for the navy, and transferred to the army, obtaining a commission from Woolwich in the Royal Engineers. He was nineteen years of age, and went to the front last May.]"
Western Times 8th September 1915 - "Casualties in West of England Regiments - Officers of the Expeditionary Force reported in Monday night's casualty lists number five killed. Among them was Second-Lieut. D. Theodore-Smith. R.E. ... obtained commission ... at the age of 17, and went to the front in May, 1915."
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Lodge of Progress No. 1768 E.C. | London |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
24th February 1915 | 24th March 1915 | 21st April 1915 |
At the time of his initiation Dennis is already serving as a Second Lieutenant at Chatham. He was initiated, passed and raised on consecutive months in the year of his death. He is recorded as aged 18. In the contribution record of the Lodge at the United Grand Lodge of England, it shows "Killed in action Aug 1915".
Dennis, aged just 18 1/2 years old, is the youngest to have perished on this Masonic Roll of Honour and the youngest Freemason to be initiated on the list.
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