SMITH, David E (#202)

Alan Pollock’s Rough Notes:

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Company Sgt Major David E SMITH of THE BLACK WATCH (Royal Highland Regiment) nearly succeeded in joining at 15 like his father in WW1 for the CAMERONIANS later wounded) but was made to wait two more years; an INSTRUCTOR at 17, he joined CDOs with Jimmy Pearson in 1943 into 4 Tp No 6 COMMANDO.

As a Cpl he fought in NORMANDY via SWORD BEACHHEAD on D-DAY at 0800hrs, landing with four 3″ mortar bombs each on front and a 90lb Bergen rucksack up the beach behind DD Tanks on the extreme left hand flank then unbadged but his Black Watch red hackle in his green beret (had voted no helmets) through OUISTREHAM; later passing across PEGASUS BRIDGE, where they lost stretcher bearer ARTHUR CHARITY, shot through the head where they crossed ahead of  PIPER BILL MILNE, behind them with Lord Lovat; six weeks on, his rifle was hit by heavy fire and disintegrated, wounding him in hand and neck; CASEVAC out by DAKOTA from RANVILLE back to RAF Hospital WROUGHTON; rejoined CDO for patrols alongside AMERICANS (98th) early Jan45 to counter the ARDENNES OFFENSIVE, by then a DEMOLLTIONS SGT; on via the RHINE CROSSING  at WESEL, once almost out of ammunition, had to carry out a co-ordinated bayonet charge, which succeeded on to the WESER crossing and LUNEBURG to finish up North East of LUBECK: earlier the BLACK WATCH bad been the first British BATTALION to set foot on German soil, Its CO, 5 years earlier, had been a Black Watch private.