47th (British Columbia) Battalion, Canadian Army
Reginald George Smith was born on 2 November 1883 to Daniel and Sarah, in the hamlet of Tortworth, now in South Gloucestershire. Educated at nearby Wotton under-Edge, he read Classics at Cambridge University. Having obtained his degree in 1905 he immediately sailed for Canada to take up a teaching post in Ottawa. After five years he came top in the Canadian Civil Service Entrance Examination and soon became Private Secretary to the Minister of Labour.
In early 1916 he volunteered for Army service oversees and was commissioned into the newly formed 47 Battalion, part of 4 Canadian Division, which crossed from England to France in August.
He was twice wounded in fighting around Courcelette and Le Sars. His second wound necessitated a transfer to a hospital in Bristol. He rejoined 47 Battalion in time for the Battle of Arras in April 1917, when the four divisions of the Canadian Army captured Vimy Ridge. He was promoted to Captain on 30 April. Five days later he received two wounds during a limited attack in the Lens area; the second of these proved fatal. Captain Reginald George Smith died on 5 May 1917.
One of 66,655 Canadians to die in the Great War, he was laid to rest in Villers Station Military Cemetery.