Matt Whittaker

Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Leonie Anne Smith.

Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Lydia Kelly.

Archibald kenneth smith DSM Married Lydia kelly of NSW they had two children together the first kenneth and the second called leonie . Everyone knew archibald as Tommy ( his nickname ) They lived at blakehurts NSW in a modest brick home on at what at that time was a new estate close to carrs park baths and a large dairy. Tommy as he was known was a career sailor in the Royal Australian Navy who rose through the ranks through grit and determination which gave him the opportunity to provide for his family. He enlisted at port melbourne as an ordinary seaman and later after marriage and some promotions was based in sydney where he saw the duration of his time when not on active service. He served till 1951 a period of twenty three years . He was awarded the distinguished service medal in 1945 for his service upon the hmas castlemaine during the war. He was presented his DSM in 948 upon his return to australia by the NSW Governor general at admiralty house nsw after nearly three years service in the commonwealth occupational forces in japan. His first ship was the canberra and during peace times saw service in new zealand and australia station with her. He was an avid rower and competed in the naval rowing teams . At the start of ww2 he was placed upon the newly commissioned CORVETTE hmas cairns , he spent several years without break or shore leave on her and later transferd to hmas castlemaine along with some time on the destroyer napier. The Bathurst class corvettes were a new breed of ship designed in australia for australian coastal conditions mainly for minesweeping and escort duties , before long they were doing far and beyond they were ever intended. This was extremely demanding on both ship and man, they became the work horses of the australian navy under the most difficult of conditions . Tommy served in africa , crete , philipines , hong kong , new guinea and other places as well as australian waters , including freemantle which was a large US submarine base . He was present for the japanese attack on sydney harbour and assisted with removal and recovery of shipmates from hmas kuttabull . Little at that time did he know just how much death and destruction he would see before and after wars end in the service of his country. His service was distinguished and long with a remarkable war service record. The men of the corvettes became known as a tough breed who despite horrendous live aboard conditions achieved enormous results , they were known to take matters into their own hands at times and weren't adverse to helping themselves to questionably obtained goods where and when necessary. Food and medical supplies were always short , the conditions cramped and always damp , hot stifling tropical days and often cyclonic storms in the wet season, illness and lung complaints were common A hard job for hard men on tiny little ships that helped turn the war and save our nation. lest we forget