9th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (British Army)
Died:
01/07/1916 (Killed in Action)
Age:
21
Summary
Samuel Smith was the eldest son of the William and Margaret Smith. He was born about 1895 in Scotland. Both his parents were Scottish. The 1901 census records Samuel as age 4 living with the family at house 2 in Derrycreevy, Benburb, Tyrone. William Smith was a land steward. Samuel Smith enlisted in Dungannon with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Private Samuel Smith was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. He was 21 years old.
Further Information
Samuel Smith was the eldest son of the William and Margaret Smith (nee Frame). Both his parents were Scottish.
Samuel Smith was born about 1895 in Scotland. He was the oldest of six children.
By March 1898, the young family had moved to Benburb.
Family: William Smith, Margaret Smith, Samuel Smith (born about 1897, Scotland), Margaret M F Smith (born 20th March 1898, Benburb), Catherine S Smith (born 22nd December 1899, Benburb), Robert Smith (born 8th September 1901, Benburb), William Smith (born 4th December 1903, Benburb), Marion Smith (born 28th December 1905, Benburb).
The 1901 census records Samuel as age 4 living with the family at house 2 in Derrycreevy, Benburb, Tyrone. William Smith was a land steward. Derrycreevy lies west of Benburb.
By the time of the 1911 census Samuel was no longer living with the family. The family still lived in Derrycreevy, Benburb.
Samuel was a member of the Benburb Company U.V.F.
Samuel Smith enlisted in Dungannon with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Private Samuel Smith arrived in France with the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 5th October 1915.
Private Samuel Smith was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. He was 21 years old.
From the Tyrone Courier dated 24 August 1916:
Official intimation has been forwarded to Mr William Smith, The Farm, Benburb, that his son, Lance Corporal Samuel Smith, Tyrone Volunteers, has not been heard of since 1st July.
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 26th August 1916:
Official intimation has been forwarded to Mr William Smith, The Farm, Benburb, Moy, that his son, Lance Corporal Samuel Smith, Tyrone Volunteers, has not been heard of since 1st July. He was a member of the Benburb Company U.V.F.
Private Samuel Smith has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.
The CWGC record Private Samuel Smith as the son of William and Margaret Smith.
