Wallace Harold Smith was born in 1916; his parents were George William Smith and Alice Amelia Smith. Although he was born in Hartlebury, Wallace spent most of his formative years living at number 4, the Horsefair in Kidderminster.

Wallace’s father, George, was a bricklayer of some local repute. He worked for W.J. Brown whose yard was in New Street, Kidderminster. So good was George that he went on to be appointed as an instructor at the Government Training Centre in Birmingham.

Wallace was the middle son to George and Alice; his ‘big’ brother was George Edward Richard Smith, like his father, he too grew-up to be a bricklayer. Wallace's ‘little’ brother was William, unsurprisingly, he also would grow up to be a ‘brickie’.

In this respect, Wallace really did break the mould…

As a young man, Wallace trained as a hairdresser, learning his trade with Mr. E. Hands of Bewdley Hill in Kidderminster and also, Mr. Shaw of Stourbridge. Before joining the colours, Wallace ran his own business on Offmore Road, Kidderminster.

In 1937, Wallace married his sweetheart, Miss Annie Weale, two children quickly followed – one of whom was a son named Michael A.J. Smith who was born in 1940 (the name of the other child cannot be traced). The family lived at number 72 Franche Road, Kidderminster.

Wallace volunteered on the outbreak of war, and enlisted in the Royal Ordnance Corps. He was stationed in the north of England for some time and went overseas, arriving in North Africa in 1942.

Before he made that journey, Wallace enjoyed a week’s leave back in ‘Kiddy.’ The joy was shattered however, when news was received that his ‘little’ brother William had been posted as “missing” out in the Far East. No doubt the family pulled together in agreement that as long as William remained classified as “missing,” there was still hope; maybe he’d turn up, or perhaps he was in a POW camp?

Parents George and Alice would have prayed hard and kept believing.

Wallace was eventually attached to the 1 Base Ammunition Depot (BAD), fighting through all of the famous North African campaigns before moving on with the regiment into Italy.

The role of the BADs (also referred to as Base Ordnance Depots, or BODs) grew evermore important as the war progressed, with the need for flexibility and mobility being key to their ongoing operational viability, a vital aspect during the back-and-forth battles of the North African campaign.

The subsequent invasion of Italy provided further challenges, not least the mountainous terrain. Throughout the Italian campaign Wallace would have helped provide the vital supply of ammunition, explosives, and other technical ordnance, to the front lines of the advancing 8th Army as they drove ever northward.

Although large beachhead depots existed, the nature of the war in Italy, also demanded mobile BADs and BODs at both corps and divisional levels, so Wallace would have been kept extremely busy!

Of course, the Germans knew the vital importance of the Allied ammunition and ordnance depots and consequently, they became key targets for the Luftwaffe bombers.

Wallace would have witnessed the German’s infamous attack on the port of Bari in December 1943; specifically planned to disrupt the build-up of ammunition and ordnance and thus slow-down the Allied advance. Some twenty-eight merchant ships laden with more than 31,000 tonnes of cargo were sunk or destroyed and the port was closed for three weeks, only being re-opened in February 1944; a re-opening that tragically, Wallace would not live to see...

On the 15th of January 1944, Wallace’s local newspaper, the Kidderminster Shuttle, ran a report, informing of his death his death: 

“It is with deep regret that we report the death of L/Cpl. Wallace Smith, husband of Mrs. Nancy (sic) Smith, 72 Franche Rd. and second son of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Smith, the Hollies, 36 Birmingham Road. News was received last Friday that he was killed in action in Italy on December 26.”

(There is some confusion regarding the exact date of Wallace’s death; several Commonwealth War Graves Commission documents state that he died a day later, on the 27th of December 1943, but their ‘Graves Concentration Report Form’ mirrors the date quoted in the Kidderminster Shuttle.) The newspaper report continued:

“L/Cpl Smith was very popular and liked by all who knew him.

“The tragic news of his death followed directly on the airmail letter and card received from him at Christmas, and at a time when his parents were experiencing the joys of allayed anxiety concerning their third son, Sapper William Francis Smith, now known to be a Prisoner of War in Japanese hands.”

Initially, Wallace was buried close to where he fell, but today, he rests peacefully in the beautiful Bari War Cemetery (his body was exhumed and reinterred on the 24th of August 1944).

This cemetery is located on the outskirts of Bari in the locality of Carbonara; this site being chosen in November 1943.

There was no serious fighting in the vicinity of the town, which was the Army Group headquarters during the early stages of the Italian campaign, but it continued to be an important supply base and hospital centre, with the 98th General Hospital stationed there from October 1943 until the end of the war.

Besides garrison and hospital burials, the cemetery contains graves brought in from a wide area of south-eastern Italy, from the 'heel' right up to the 'spur.' Those men who died in the German attack on Bari harbour in December 1943 are also buried here.

In all, the cemetery contains 2,128 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, at least three of whom were Kidderminster men:

• Wallace Harold Smith

• Arthur Albert Woodyatt, a Trooper in the 10th Royal Hussars

• Thomas Horwood, an RAF Sergeant (40 Sqn.)

Back in Blighty, Wallace Harold Smith is commemorated on the Kidderminster War Memorial, which is situated to the front of St. Mary and All Saint’s Church on the town’s inner-ring road. Below the names of the fallen on this memorial, the following epitaph is inscribed:

“THESE DIED THE NOBLEST DEATH A MAN MAY DIE ~ FIGHTING FOR GOOD AND RIGHT AND LIBERTY ~ AND SUCH A DEATH IS IMMORTALITY”

Rest In Peace Wallace Harold Smith; husband, father and brave soldier ~ Your courage will never be                                                       forgotten ~ Your sacrifice, remembered For Evermore

FOOTNOTE: Sadly, the relief felt by Wallace’s parents on learning that their youngest son was no longer missing but was a Prisoner Of War in Japanese hands, would soon become a cruel reminder of how quickly hope can be dashed... 

Wallace’s ‘little’ brother, Sapper William Francis Smith of the Royal Engineer’s 560 Field Company, died as a result of Japanese maltreatment. In fact, he’d died three months prior to his parents receiving the news of his capture; the news which was reported to have brought them the "joys of allayed anxiety..."

Clearly neither George nor Alice knew of the animalistic barbarity of William’s captors.

The youngest of George and Alice's three sons died on the 6th of September 1943, whilst being forced to work on the Thailand-Burma railway. He was aged just 23.   Today he rests in the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand.