Smith, Joseph

Joseph Hayden Smith was born on 13 July 1921, the oldest son of Tarata farmers Joseph and May Smith (nee Hayden). He attended Tarata School and was working as a farmhand in Stratford when he enlisted, serving as a driver with the 2^nd Ammunition Company of the NZ Army Service Corps during World War Two.

Joseph sailed home from the Middle East via Melbourne on the ship Strathmore along with some 4000 other Kiwi troops in September 1945. He and 171 local men then travelled home to Taranaki from Wellington by train. He was later awarded the War Medal 1939-1945 and the New Zealand Service War Medal.

Joseph’s younger brother Kenneth James Smith (1924-1990) was also called up but the boys’ father appeared on his behalf before the No.8 (Taranaki) Armed Forces Appeal Board in Inglewood on 3 April 1945, presumably as Joseph was already away fighting and Kenneth was needed on the family farm on Oapui Road.

Joseph married Myrtle Grace Stanley (1921-1998) in New Plymouth on 21 November 1945 and the couple had four children: Shirley, Nigel, Bev and Jenny. He became a life member of the Inglewood RSA.

Joseph Smith died on 1 March 2001 at the age of 79 in New Plymouth and his ashes are buried in the services area of Awanui Cemetery.