Issy Smith
Issy Smith, VC was a British-Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Smith travelled to Britain as a child stowaway and first volunteered to serve in the British Army in 1904. As a corporal in the 1st Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, Smith was engaged in the Second Battle of Ypres. Smith recovered wounded soldiers while exposed to sustained fire and attended to them with the greatest devotion to duty regardless of personal risk. His conduct secured a recommendation for the VC, which was awarded to Smith in August 1915.
About Issy Smith in brief
Issy Smith, VC was a British-Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Smith travelled to Britain as a child stowaway and first volunteered to serve in the British Army in 1904. He emigrated to Australia after discharge, where he remained until mobilised as a reservist in 1914. As a corporal in the 1st Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, Smith was engaged in the Second Battle of Ypres. On his own initiative, Smith recovered wounded soldiers while exposed to sustained fire and attended to them with the greatest devotion to duty regardless of personal risk. His conduct secured a recommendation for the VC, which was awarded to Smith in August 1915. After his demobilisation, Smith returned to Australia with his wife and daughter. He became a prominent figure in Melbourne’s Jewish community, was appointed a Justice of the Peace, and unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the United Australia Party in the 1931 general election. In recognition of his VC, he was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre and Russian Cross of St.
George by the respective governments. Smith was born in Alexandria, the son of French citizens Moses and Eva Shmeilowitz, who were of Russian Jewish origin. His father was employed by the French Consulate-General as a clerk. Smith attended Berner Street School, Commercial Street, and worked as a deliverer in the East End, then an impoverished ghetto where Yiddish was the predominant spoken language. By the time of Issy Smith’s arrival, Jewish immigration to Britain had peaked but was curtailed by the enactment of the Aliens Act in 1905. Smith completed his training, serving in South Africa and India with the1st Battalion. He boxed competitively, winning the British army’s middleweight championship, and played football. Some sources state that Smith was present at the capture of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force. The 1st Manchester Regiment sailed from Karachi for France on 29 August 1914 as the constituent British battalion of the Jullundur Brigade, 3rd Division.
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