|
In Memory ofHARRY J SMITHPrivate
|
| Additional Information: Click on images to view details
|
The memorials in Kennethmont show him as Harry Smith, Post Office, Cpl, 1st Life Guards He is also commemotated on the Aberdeen City War Memorial Roll. His details are given as Smith Harry J , Cpl. Kings Dragoon Guards, Kirkhill Lodge, Kennethmont Army Returns : Harry J Smith, Pte 1st Life Guards, age 36, b Scotland, d 26/9/1918 Germany, Cause - Apoplectic Seizure REF: History of the King's Dragoon Guards 1685-1912; The Life Guards and some other Household Battalions had been formed into the Guards Machine Gun Battalion. The Guards Division and 41 others were involved in the Battles of the Hindenberg Line (27 Sep-17 Oct 1918) at the time of his death. The Hindenburg Line was the section of German front line defences and fortifications running from Arras to Laon, built 1916–17 It is likely Harry was with The Kings Dragoon Guards in France prior to the transfer of some members to 1st Life Guards on 7/10/1917. He is buried in a cemetery near Berlin which consists of grouped re-burials from 146 cemeteries in Germany. These included many POW camp burials and is one of four permanant CWGC cemeteries in Germany. It is likely he was taken prisoner prior to March 1918 and died in captivity due to illness or disease. British servicemen are always buried in the country in which they died. Service Notes KDG were in the Indian Cavalry Brigade
which was in 4th Cavalry Division. August 1914 : in Hyde Park. On mobilisation,
a Squadron transferred to the Composite Regiment.
|
Commemorative Information
| Cemetery: | BERLIN SOUTH-WESTERN CEMETERY, Brandenburg, Germany |
| Grave
Reference/ Panel Number: |
III. D. 1. |
Location:
|
The Cemetery
is located close to the village of Stahnsdorf, about 26 kilometres
south west of Berlin and 15 kilometres east of Potsdam. The Cemetery
is on the eastern edge of the Potsdam Forest. Visitors travelling
along the main road between Potsdam and Stahnsdorf should follow
signs for Tetlow, Stahnsdorf and the airport, Schonefeld. Immediately
after passing the village boundary of Stahnsdorf lies the left
hand turning, at the traffic lights, into Bahnhofstrasse. The
Cemetery lies 500 metres after this left hand turning on the left
hand side of the road. The CWGC plot is approximately twenty minutes
walk from the entrance. The plot is found by following signs for
the church and continuing on the main path running through the
Cemetery. |
| Historical Information: | The Cemetery is one of those which belong to the Berlin Stadtsynode. It was opened in 1908, and covers an area of about 132 hectares. In 1923 it was selected as one of the four cemeteries in which the Commonwealth war graves scattered throughout Germany should be grouped, to ensure that they should be properly maintained in perpetuity; and the work was carried out in 1924-25. The Commonwealth part of the cemetery consists of twenty plots, about 1 kilometre from the main entrance. Of the 146 cemeteries from which British graves were brought to Stahnsdorf, the following should be mentioned:-. ALTDAMM PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, five miles East of Stettin, in the Province of Pommern (Pomerania), contained the graves of 46 soldiers from the United Kingdom, three from Newfoundland and two from Canada, who died in 1915-1918. BUDEROSE PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, near Guben, in the Province of Brandenburg, contained the graves of 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom, one from Canada and one from Australia, all of whom died in 1918. CROSSEN PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, 3 kilometres East of Crossen, on the river Oder, in the Province of Brandenburg, contained the graves of 66 sailors and soldiers from the United Kingdom, one from Australia and one from South Africa all of whom died in 1918. DOBERITZ PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, about 19 kilometres West of Berlin, in the Province of Brandenburg, contained the graves of 38 sailors and soldiers from the United Kingdom who died in 1914-1918. HASENHEIDE GARRISON CEMETERY, on the South side of the city of Berlin, contained the graves of 369 Russian, 125 French, and 58 Belgian, American, Italian, Rumanian, Portuguese or Serbian soldiers; 63 sailors, soldiers and Marines from the United Kingdom; and one Indian soldier. HEILSBERG PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, in Ostpreussen (East Prussia), contained the graves of 50 soldiers and one Marine from the United Kingdom, who died in 1917 and 1918. Only twelve were brought to Stahnsdorf; the remainder are still buried at Heilsberg. KLEIN WITTENBERG OLD CEMETERY, 3 kilometres West of Wittenberg, in the Prussian province of Saxony, contained the graves of 23 soldiers, one Marine and eight civilians from the United Kingdom and one soldier from India, all of whom died in 1915; the NEW (or PRISONERS OF WAR) CEMETERY, those of 71 soldiers and three civilians from the United Kingdom, two soldiers from Canada and one from Australia, who died in 1915, 1917 and 1918; and WITTENBERG OLD SMALL CEMETERY those of two soldiers from the United Kingdom who died in 1914 and 1915. The first and third of these cemeteries are associated with the outbreak of typhus at the Wittenberg camp in December, 1914. LAMSDORF PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, in Schlesien (Silesia), contained the graves of 81 soldiers from the United Kingdom, one from Australia and one from New Zealand, who died in 1917-1919. (It was used for French burials in 1870-71). MAGDEBURG MILITARY CEMETERY, in Prussian Saxony, contained the graves of 24 soldiers and one Marine from the United Kingdom who died in 1915-1918. MERSEBURG TOWN CEMETERY, in Prussian Saxony, contained the graves of 12 soldiers from the United Kingdom who died in 1914-1917, and the PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY those of 33 soldiers from the United Kingdom who died in 1917-1918. OPPELN TOWN CEMETERY, in Upper Silesia, contained the graves of 41 soldiers from the United Kingdom who died in 1921-22. They belonged to the British force stationed in Upper Silesia during the Plebiscite. Thirty of them, who died after the legal termination of the war, are still buried at Oppeln force stationed in Upper Silesia during the Plebiscite. Thirty of them, who died after the legal termination of the war, are still buried at Oppeln. SCHNEIDEMUHL PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, in Posen, West Prussia, on the borders of Poland, contained the graves of 76 soldiers from the United Kingdom, five from Australia, three of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, and one from Canada, who died in 1915-1918. Eighteen of these are still buried at Schneidemuhl. STARGARD PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, in Pomerania, contained the graves of 37 soldiers and one Marine from the United Kingdom, two soldiers from New Zealand and one of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, who died in 1917-1918. STENDAL PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY, in Prussian Saxony, contained the graves of 140 soldiers from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one from Newfoundland, who died in 1917-1918. ZERBST (HEIDETOR) CEMETERY, in Anhalt, contained the graves of two soldiers from the United Kingdom who died in 1914-1915, and the PRISONERS OF WAR CEMETERY those of 45, who died in 1917-1918. |
