Smith, Vernon A.

Pte. Vernon A. Smith, son of Pte. E. Smith and Mrs. Smith, R.R. 4, Brantford, was on patrol duty with seven other men on the night of December 16, 1944, in the vicinity of Villanova, not far from Ravenna, Italy, when he met instant death from enemy machine gun fire. As a member of the Westminster Regiment he was in the Canadian Division, which helped the Fifth Army conquer Ravenna and clear the elongated stretch of land between Lake Comacchie and the Adriatic and throw the enemy back from many acres of Italian soil. Enlisting with the Dufferin and Haldimand Rifles on June 15, 1940, Pte. Smith trained in Canada at Niagara-on-the-Lake and Nanaimo for almost three years before leaving on April 25, 1943, for overseas. He was transferred then to the

Toronto Scottish Regiment and later to the Westminsters. Born in Brantford on February 9, 3921, Vernon attended Grand View School and the Outpost Sunday School of the Salvation Army conducted by Mr. and Mrs. T. Bray. He was keen on hunting and was a talented young artist. He was employed at the Proctor Packers Limited. Pte. Smith now lies far from his native Brantford, in Villanova, Italy.

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