Private ARCHIBALD CHARLES SMITH

13, Cheriton Road, Winchester

Family Background

Archibald Charles Smith (above) was born in New Alresford, near Winchester, on 28 August 1881, the youngest of the five sons of carpenter Harry Smith and his wife Amelia. Harry Smith was also from New Alresford and Amelia from the nearby village of Ovington Down. Amelia died in 1883, aged just 34. Harry Smith remarried in 1890. His second wife, Ann, was from Crawley and the family moved to Winchester, living at 27, Western Road.

Archie attended St Michael’s Infants School before moving on to St Thomas Senior Church of England Boys’ School in February 1893. School records show the family living at 3, Avenue Terrace (3, Avenue Road today) where they remained until 1900 when Archie’s father died. The following year Archie and his brother Bertram were boarding at 51, Western Road (now 9, Cheriton Road). Archie was working as a tailor and Bertram as a machinist.

In January 1908 Archie married Annie Wiseman in Winchester. The following year they moved to 53, Western Road which was renumbered 13, Cheriton Road in 1914. It is the same address today. Archie’s wife had been born in Ringwood but after leaving school she moved to Winchester to work as a domestic housemaid at Sherriff & Ward department store (later absorbed into Debenhams) in the High Street. Annie was one of 33 staff recorded as living on the shop premises in the 1901 Census. She and Archie had four children - Frederick, Robert, Ann and Doris.

When the Great War broke out in 1914 Archie was working for Messrs F.W. Flight & Sons, a firm of military tailors at 90, High Street, Winchester. With the demand for uniforms soaring, he would have been exceptionally busy and was clearly valued by his employer.

From the start of the war in August 1914 until early 1916, Britain’s armed forces had relied on volunteers to fill the ranks. However, this was not enough to keep pace with mounting casualties and the government saw no alternative but to increase numbers by conscription – or compulsory military service. In January 1916 the Military Service Act imposed conscription on all single men aged from 18 to 41. Men who were medically unfit, teachers, clergymen and certain industrial workers were exempted. Conscription was extended to married men a few months later.

Men could appeal against being conscripted at a local Military Service Tribunal. This is what happened with Archie Smith. On two or three occasions his employers at Messrs F.W. Flight & Sons successfully appealed on his behalf, arguing that his work was vital to the war effort.

Great War Record

However, the Tribunal eventually ruled that Archie was eligible for military service and in December 1916 he joined the Hampshire Regiment. After some basic military training in England, he was posted to Mesopotamia where he joined up with the Hampshires in the city of Baghdad. Conditions in Baghdad were squalid and dirty, and Archie Smith died there on 13 July 1917, probably from disease.

Archie’s widow Annie continued to live at 13, Cheriton Road. She died in Winchester in 1963, aged 84.

Private Archibald Charles Smith was entitled to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is buried in Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, Iraq (GR. XV. E. 11) and is mentioned on the memorials at St Matthew’s and St Paul’s churches, Winchester. His name also appears on the St Thomas Church of England Boys’ School memorial, now held at Kings’ School, Winchester.

Activities: Discuss conscription. Do you believe that someone should be forced to fight for their country? Learn about conscientious objectors – those men who refused to fight in the Great War for religious or moral reasons.