Edward Smith

He stormed a gun post and rallied his men under deadly fire.

Edward Benn “Ned” Smith (10 November 1898–12 January 1940) was a Maryport-born Lancashire Fusiliers soldier who earned the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal in two acts of courage just eleven days apart during the Allied advance of 1918. He attested for the Army in 1915, but age restrictions delayed his full enlistment; in July 1917 he enlisted as a private in the Lancashire Fusiliers. He reached France in December and joined the 1/5th Battalion, later serving with the regiment through the final offensives on the Western Front.

On 10 August 1918, Smith led a daylight patrol near Hébuterne that encountered a much larger German party. He took the initiative, led his small group into the fight, and broke up the enemy force. The action earned him the Distinguished Conduct Medal and promotion to lance-sergeant. Eleven days later, near Beauregard Dovecot east of Serre, he was leading a platoon in the attack when he rushed a German machine-gun post with rifle and bayonet. Under grenade fire, he shot at least six enemy soldiers and captured the position. When another platoon needed help, Smith led his men to its aid, took charge, and secured its objective. During the counter-attack the next day, he led a section forward and restored part of the line. The official Victoria Cross citation praised his courage, initiative, and leadership as an example to the men around him.

After the war, Smith remained in the Army, serving as a drum major and later as a company and regimental sergeant major. His overseas service included Malaya and China, where he instructed volunteers. He left the Army in 1938 and joined the Corps of Commissionaires, but returned to military service in 1939 as a lieutenant and quartermaster with the Lancashire Fusiliers. He served in France with the British Expeditionary Force and died there on 12 January 1940. He was buried at Beuvry Communal Cemetery Extension. His story is notable for the unusual combination of the DCM and Victoria Cross, won for separate actions within eleven days, and for a military career that continued into the opening months of the Second World War.

Sources: “Edward Benn Smith VC DCM,” Victoria Cross and George Cross Association; “Ned Smith Memorial,” Maryport Town Council; “No. 30967, Supplement to The London Gazette,” 22 October 1918; “See the January Issue of Britain at War for Lord Ashcroft’s New Gallantry Article,” Lord Ashcroft.

[Biographical and award record](https://vcgca.org/our-people/profile/756/Edward-Benn--SMITH)