SMITH, Eric

Eric Smith was the youngest son of Mr Woodall Smith of Netherton and was educated at Dudley Grammar School and Worcester College, Oxford. He went up in 1906 and as a keen sportsman he captained his college teams for cricket and football. He then became sports master at Buckland School in Devon. After his father's death his mother moved to Stourbridge and lived at Hanbury House. On the outbreak of war he joined the Public Schools' Battalion and served in the ranks during 1914 and 1915. He was commissioned to the West Kents in August 1916 but died of heart failure on the 15th October after suffering an attack of acute jaundice. Second Lieutenant Eric Smith is buried in Bruay Cemetery Communal Extension (B 19) and commemorated on the Stourbridge, Dudley Grammar school and Worcester College, Oxford, Memorials.