Thomas Claude Duskel Smith (SN 6101) from Vale Street, Sebastopol, was a 5’4” farmer when he enlisted in April 1916. He named his mother Rebecca as his next of kin. He trained with Ballarat’s 14th Depot Battalion before embarking aboard the Themistocles on July 28th and sailing to England. He spent all of 1917 at training units in England but in January 1918 he crossed to the battlefields of France to serve with the 8th Battalion. He served through the final year of the war without major incident and returned to Australia aboard the Persic, disembarking at Melbourne on August 29th 1919. He was discharged six weeks later on October 13th. In 1924, when applying for his Victory Medal, his address was Birdwood Avenue, Sebastopol. He died on September 12th 1951 at the age of 56 and is buried in Ballarat’s New Cemetery.
Tree No. 3784