In
my first post of this series, I profiled T/Sgt Donald Malarkey (Easy Company,
506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division) and Private Smokey
Smith (Canadian Army, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada). I decided to re-draw Private Smokey Smith as
I was not happy with my original drawing.
This new drawing with appear on the WWII Operation Whitebox fan site.
Private Ernest “Smokey” Smith (Canadian
Army, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada)
Private
Ernest “Smokey” Smith (later Sergeant) was the last living Canadian recipient
of the Victoria Cross, passing away on August 3, 2005, at the age of 91. Smith received his Victoria Cross for his
actions on the night of October 21/22, 1944, at the River Savio in Northern
Italy. Smith, then a Private, led a
two-man PIAT (Projection, Infantry, Anti-Tank) team against a force of 3 Mark V
Panther tanks, 2 self-propelled guns and 30 infantry. Smith destroyed one of
the German tanks, killed several infantry with his tommy gun, repelled the
German attack and helped his wounded team member, Private Tennant, to safety.
Prior
to the events at the River Savio, Smith received promotions to the rank of
Corporal nine times but was demoted back down to Private nine more times. It was even rumoured that Smith spent the
night prior to King George presenting him with the Victoria Cross in a jail in
Rome (Smith would neither deny nor confirm this).
In
his later years, Smokey Smith became a member of the Order of Canada in 1995
and the Order of British Columbia in 2002.
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