Smith, Kenneth

Date of birth:: December 7th, 1920 (Humby, Lincolnshire, Great Britain)
Date of death:: January 10th, 1945 (Island of Ist, Adriatic Sea)
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Cemetery Belgrade
Plot: 6. Row: D. Grave: 9.
Nationality:: British

Biography

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George Cross

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Signalman
Unit:: Signal Section, Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), Special Operations Executive (SOE), British Government
Awarded on:: October 19th, 1945

Recommendation:
"On the night of 10th January 1945, on the island of Ist in the Adriatic, Signalman Smith was a member of a patrol of the Long Range Desert Group which was attacked by saboteurs, who laid time bombs in vital houses on the island. After hearing some shots, Signalman Smith entered the wireless room and found one such bomb on the table. Realizing that there were a number of partisans in the room and young children elsewhere in the house, Signalman Smith immediately picked up the bomb, which was ticking. He intended to move it to a place of safety behind a wall nearby, but he had gone only a few yards outside the house when the bomb exploded and he was blown to pieces.

There is no doubt that Signalman Smith's actions saved the lives of many of his comrades, partisans, and civilians, and that he showed superb courage and a complete disregard for personal safety in lifting a time bomb which was already ticking, when he knew it might explode at any moment"