Name
Enos John 'Jack' Smith
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
28/11/1917
20
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
28050
Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
12th (Service) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
DOZINGHEM MILITARY CEMETERY
Plot XV, Row E, Grave 4.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Watford Borough Roll of Honour, Bushey Memorial, Clay Hill, St Paul's Church Memorial, Bushey, We are not aware of any memorial in Garston
Pre War
Born in 1897 in Garston and baptised on 28 November 1897 at Christ Church in Watford, Enos John Smith was the son of William Walter and Mary Jane (nee Fletcher) Smith. His parents were married in 1883 in the registration district of Alresford in Hampshire.
At the 1901 census, Enos was three years old and living with his parents and seven siblings at Long Spring Lodge in St Albans Road, St Albans. William was working as a gamekeeper, and he and Mary were 41 and 40 years old respectively. His siblings were named Winifred, Mary, William, Ernest, Edwin, Walter and Frederick, and their ages were 17, 15, 13, 9, 8, 6 and 6 months, respectively. Birthplaces are given as Nottinghamshire for William (Snr.), Cheriton in Hampshire for Mary (Snr.), Owslebury in Hampshire for Winifred, Mary and William, Tillington in Sussex for Ernest, Edwin and Walter, and Watford for Frederick.
By the time of the 1911 census, Enos was 13 and the family had moved to High Wood in Watford. The record shows that William and Mary had nine children, one of whom had died in childhood. Winifred had left home, but the rest of the children were still present. William (Snr.) was still working as a gamekeeper and, apart from Enos and Frederick who were at school, all the children were also employed. The children’s names had been expanded and were now listed as Mary Priscilla, William Thomas Carey, Ernest George, Edwin Wilfred, Walter Reginald and Frederick Robert.
Wartime Service
Enos enlisted in Watford, initially as Private 1320 in the Rifle Brigade before being transferred as Private G/28050 in the 12th (Service) Battalion of the Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex) Regiment. He served in the western European theatre and died, aged 20, at 47 Casualty Clearing Station on 28 November 1917 of wounds received in action. He was entitled to the British and Victory medals.
Enos was buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery in Belgium and is also commemorated on the Bushey Memorial and at St Paul’s Church, Bushey.
There is a brief article about and a Death announcement for Enos in the West Herts and Watford Observer dated 8 December 1917, plus an In Memoriam in the issue dated 30 November 1918.
The Registers of Soldiers’ Effects names his mother, Mary Jane, as the sole legatee and lists a payment of £8 19s. 9d. on 4 April 1918, a charge of 14s. 6d. on 9 May 18 and a further payment of £6 10s. on 28 November 1919.
His pension card names his mother as his dependant, with an address of High Wood, Watford, and awards a pension of five shillings a week from 21 October 1919.
Additional Information
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild, Sue Carter (Research) and Watford Museum (ROH on line via www.ourwatfordhistory.org.uk)
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Sue Carter (Research) and Watford Museum (ROH on line via www.ourwatfordhistory.org.uk), Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
