Clement Leslie Smith
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Clement Leslie Smith (VC, MC) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
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[edit] Details
He was 25 years old, and a Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, British Army, attd. 5th Somaliland Light Infantry during the Fourth Somaliland Expedition when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 10 January 1904 at the commencement of the fight at Jidballi, Somaliland (now Somalia), Lieutenant Smith and a medical officer tried to rescue a hospital assistant who was wounded. The rapidity of the enemy's fire, however made this impossible and the hospital assistant was killed. Lieutenant Smith then did all that was possible to bring out the medical officer, helping him to mount a horse and, when this was shot, a mule. This also was shot and the medical officer was killed, but the lieutenant stayed with him to the end, trying to keep off the enemy with his revolver.
[edit] Further information
He later achieved the rank of Brigadier General.
[edit] The medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry Museum (Bodmin, Cornwall, England).
[edit] References
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
This page has been migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference with permission.
