On Anzac Day, as we stop to remember those Australians who died in wars, thoughts often are filled with imagery of the fiery landing at Gallipoli, the horrors of Somme, and heroic actions in the face of the enemy to selflessly save a mate.

But here I’d like to take a moment to share a touching tribute to a soldier who never set foot on the battlefields of Europe or Turkey, but whose kindness and diligence had a great impact on the lives of countless thousands of young men who did.

I first stumbled upon Frank Smith while deep in a research rabbit hole on the National Library of Australia’s online newspaper archive, Trove. It was a letter to the editor, written after his death with the simple title of ‘The Late Major Smith (by one who knew him)’.

During the First World War, the then Captain Frank Smith was a member of the Administrative and Instruction staff and camp adjutant at the Casula, Liverpool, and Holsworthy camps where he personally oversaw the training of thousands of new recruits.

The letter, written by a former army chaplain, speaks of the kind and fatherly way that Frank Smith attended this duty.

“As a chaplain, the writer frequently came into contact with Captain Smith, and he and his fellow padres had no better friend in camp. Nothing was too much trouble for him to do to help them in their work, and his kindness and courtesy they have not forgotten…

“Tall and commanding in appearance, he was every inch a soldier, and a most efficient officer. Part of his duty was to deal with the daily squad of new recruits as they arrived in camp. Each afternoon he would meet them, men from all walks in life, and would give them a ten minutes' talk, offering them in a fatherly manner some good advice as to how to acquit themselves as good soldiers. Thousands of members of the A.I.F. would remember with gratitude the hints on soldiering that they received from Captain Smith at the very beginning of their service for their Empire.”

Researching a bit further, I found another contemporary account by a journalist visiting the Liverpool camp that paints a very similar picture of the man.

“Captain Smith is the “mainspring'' of the Camp, so to speak, and there could not be a more suitable man for the position — a typical officer and yet a kindly and sympathetic man. In terse but explicit words, with humorous asides, he sketched the daily, nay hourly, life of a recruit, from the time he enters the Camp until the morning he marches to No. 1 Embarkation Wharf, on his way to the firing line.

“The Captain personally interviews each and everyone on joining, explains lucidly all their work, and expounds the 'soldier's ten commandments,' which he drew up himself. When occasion demands he is the superior officer, but when needed the personal friend. For instance, while chatting to me the phone ran three different times — messages to different lads from friends in Sydney re: visits, appointments and parcels. He answered each call, gave needed replies, noted messages and passed them on to one of his orderlies to be handed to recipients when they came back from morning work.”

And it was not only the recruits that came into Captain Smith’s camp that benefited from his instruction. For about a decade prior to the war, he was heavily involved in the cadet movement (made compulsory in 1911). He wrote pamphlets on drill and physical culture for boys and girls, often reproduced in newspapers, and as Staff Officer of the Senior Cadets, Captain Smith regularly visited and gave instruction to brigades all over the state, including here in the Central West.

Indeed, our letter writer goes on to make the point that many of the officers and men who fought with the Australian forces had received their training under Major Smith.

“...some years ago, it was reported in the Sydney Press that "a host of men in this and other States owe most of their training in military drill and physical exercises to Lieut. Frank Smith of the instructional staff of cadets. Many of the members of militia and volunteer regiments in all parts of the Commonwealth in their younger days were taught how to drill by that instructor, and probably nobody could excel him in getting boys, individually and collectively, to so quickly acquit themselves well at drill… The high state of efficiency of the cadet corps has largely been reached by his efforts.”

In all the accounts I have read, Captain Smith is universally lauded and was held in great regard by both his superior officers and those under his instruction. Our letter writer certainly thought highly of him and was moved to make his small, touching tribute to a local paper on the NSW South Coast following Frank Smith’s death in 1929.

His letter concludes: “The writer did not know of the death of Major Smith till some time after the event. He has been prompted to pay the above tribute out of respect to the memory of one who was a courteous gentleman and a gallant soldier who faithfully served his country and his King.”