First World War British War Medal – Sergeant George Smart, 5th Bn Cameron Highlanders, late 4th Bn – WIA Loos 1915, and again 1918
British War Medal – 2095 SJT. G. SMART. CAMERONS.
Sergeant George Smart was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, circa 1886–1888, the son of Jabez and Rebecca Smart. By 1914 he was residing at 132 Dunstans Road, East Dulwich, London, and working as an accountant’s clerk, later employed by Messrs W. B. Peat & Co., Chartered Accountants, Ironmonger Lane, EC2.
On 8 September 1914, in the first weeks of the war, he joined at the London Scottish Drill Hall. At this time the MacKay brothers of Inverness, officers serving with the 4th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, were sent south from Bedford to recruit men for the battalion. George Smart was among those recruited into the Highland ranks.
He was posted to the 4th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders (No. 2095).
The battalion landed in France on 19 February 1915, joining the 1st Division. With C Company, Smart saw some of the fiercest fighting of the early war:
- Neuve Chapelle (March 1915)
- Aubers Ridge (May 1915)
- Givenchy
- Festubert
- Loos (September 1915)
On 25 September 1915, during the opening day of the Battle of Loos, the 4th Camerons suffered extremely heavy casualties in the attack. Smart was Wounded in Action that day, surviving an action which effectively shattered the battalion.
The cumulative losses of 1915 proved so severe that the 4th Battalion was eventually disbanded, its surviving men redistributed. On 1 September 1916, Smart was transferred to the 5th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders (No. S/25871).
His service thereafter shows steady responsibility:
- Promoted Acting Corporal – 13 January 1916
- Promoted Acting Cook Sergeant – 6 June 1916
- Reverted to Private upon hospital admission – 21 April 1917
- Restored and back to Sergeant by September 1917
He continued to serve through the later stages of the war and was again Wounded in Action on 25 August 1918, during the Allied advance of the final Hundred Days.
After over four years of active service — including the brutal 1915 battles that decimated the 4th Camerons — he was discharged on 21 February 1919.
George Smart survived the war and returned to civilian life, resuming his profession in accountancy. He died in 1955 at Stratford-upon-Avon, bringing to a close the life of a London-based professional who had answered the Highland call in 1914 and endured the destruction of one of the Camerons’ most heavily engaged battalions.
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