ON December 23,1915, 24-year-old Victor, the only son of Burnley’s chief constable Mr WH Smith, of Scott Park Road, was serving as a second lieutenant in the East Lancashire Regiment on the Gallipoli peninsular in Turkey.
As bombing officer he was participating in diversionary attacks on Turkish positions to allow the complete Allied withdrawal from the area.
As he threw a grenade, it slipped from his grasp and fell to the bottom of the trench, where several of his officers and men were positioned.
He immediately shouted a warning and jumped to safety but, realising that it was too late for his men to avoid the blast, he flung himself down on top of it and was instantly killed by the explosion.
For this act of self-sacrifice he was awarded posthumously the French Croix de Guerre and the Victoria Cross.
He was originally buried in a cemetery above Y Beach but after the Armistice his remains were moved to Twelve Tree Copse.
His distraught parents received his final letter wishing a “merry Christmas and happy new year” days before they received the news.
Sergeant Ridehalgh, of Angle Street, Burnley, who served under him before suffering shrapnel wounds, said: “I never saw a braver man or better officer.
“I and any of his men would have followed Vic anywhere.”
His medals and an oil painting of him are on display at Towneley Hall, Burnley.
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