Smith | Anthony Frith
Biography
Son of Allan Frith Smith and Caroline Frith Smith, husband of Faith Smith-Bower of Bermuda.
Father of Anthony F. Jr., Patricia, Henry, Sandra and Winston.
In the spring of 2020, we accidentally came across the film trailer, “In the Hour of Victory“, on YouTube. In it, we are introduced to Anthony Frith Smith, call sign Toby. This major is killed on 14 October 1944, near the Loobeek, between Overloon and Merselo and is buried at Overloon War Cemetery. Who was this 37-year-old man and how did this father of five young children from Bermuda end up in the Overloon British cemetery?
300 letters
The film trailer reveals that Toby sends some 300 handwritten letters to his wife Faith from the time he left Bermuda in 1940. He describes what he experiences every day and how he feels; his hopes, his fears and also his determination. But above all, how much he misses his wife, five children and family.
On 11 October 1944, three days before he was killed, he writes his last letter. A few weeks after Faith has already received the terrible death notice by telegram from the army command, this last cheerful letter still falls on her doormat. The 300 letters are boxed up and disappear deep into a cupboard drawer. Because of the many emotions and the family’s great grief, the letters are no longer discussed, let alone read. Thus, the letters remain untouched for over 50 years.
At a family gathering over Christmas 1995, the conversation turns to Grandpa’s letters. Toby’s then 36-year-old grandson, Jonathan D. Smith pulls out the letters. Reading the first letter, he is struck by Toby’s writing style. He feels honoured to get to know his grandfather after so many years.
Jonathan is impressed by the wonderful stories and decides to compile the letters into a book. In 2011, the book; “In the Hour of Victory” is released. In 2012, the book is filmed and wins several international film awards. The docufilm is described as a true and classic war and love film, telling the heartbreaking story of a soldier’s longing for duty and family.
Duty and family
Toby Smith was born to a large family in Bermuda on 23 November 1907. Bermuda is a group of over 150 small islands and falls under the United Kingdom. The island archipelago lies in the Atlantic Ocean, about a thousand kilometres off the east coast of the United States, nearly six thousand kilometres from Overloon.
As a little boy, Toby sees some of his 11 older brothers called up for military service in World War I to fight for the British Kingdom in Europe. When WWI ends in 1918, to his great relief, his older brothers return home unharmed.
Because of these impressive experiences at a young age, it is no coincidence that Toby also joins the “Bermuda Cadet Corps”. After five years, he transferred to the “Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps”. A year later, he quits there and presumably goes to college. In 1931, (Toby was 24 by then) he nevertheless rejoined the B-Company of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, or BVRC, as a “Rifleman”. In February 1932, he is promoted to Lance Corporal.
Meanwhile, he falls in love with American Faith Bower from Pennsylvania. He marries her in 1934 and they settle in Bermuda. They have 5 children together from 1935 to 1941; Anthony Jr, Patricia, Henry, Sandra and Winston.
Baby Winston will never see his father alive, as Toby volunteered to join the BVRC in 1940. Five-year-old Anthony Jr. waves his father off in the driveway of their home, not knowing that the family will never see their father again.
Toby boards a boat with a large group of Bermudan soldiers and travels to England via America. Accompanied by several destroyers, a convoy of 41 packed and converted merchant ships completes the weeks-long journey across the Atlantic. A perilous adventure because at this early stage of the war, the sea is controlled by German U-boats and there is the danger of sea mines everywhere.
Toby’s ship escapes destruction when the ship next to them takes a direct hit from a German torpedo. This ship is lost, but the crew manages to get to safety on the remaining ships in time.
Arriving in England, Toby and his regiment from the BVRC are attached to the 2nd Bat. Lincolnshire Regiment.
Meanwhile, Faith and her 5 young children try to keep their heads above water. Due to the war, more and more products are in short supply and financial problems increase for her and many others. On Toby’s advice, she and her children move to Pennsylvania in America and move in with her family.
An experienced mid-thirties, Toby has an almost paternal influence on the young soldiers and is appointed instructor. He is also responsible for the battalion’s fitness and training work. Due to his calm demeanour, enthusiasm and dedication, Toby is soon promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Lieutenant and then to Captain. With these promotions and increasing responsibilities, his pay also increases and he sets aside as much as he can to support his family.
When poverty also increases in Pennsylvania, Faith decides in 1943 to return to Bermuda after all. Toby, meanwhile, is promoted to Colonel.
In 1944, everything indicates that the big invasion is about to happen. Toby is busy getting his battalion ready to fight the German occupiers. In May 1944, when it turns out that the Lincolnshire Regiment is not in the first wave of attack that is going to cross over to the mainland, Toby is disappointed. Has he committed himself to this all these years?
The patience of Toby and his men is tested until the end of September 1944. They follow the news closely all these months and, despite the Allies’ heavy losses, see France being recaptured more and more. The liberation of Paris on 19 August 1944 is met with cheers in the English barracks. Toby continues to motivate his men and in the meantime is promoted to Major.
On 26 September 1944, the Lincolnshire Regiment with Toby and his countrymen finally cross over to France. There they board trains and head north via Paris. On 3 October 1944, they reach Belgium. After the train, they continue in army trucks. A few days later, they reach Asten and Deurne, taking the tired 3th Bat. Monmouthshires Regiment replacing them. After a few quiet days, they move on towards Bakel and Milheeze. After the troops have assembled, they set course towards the river Maas.
It is a tense period and the German and Allied troops seem to be playing hide-and-seek with each other. By now it is clear that Operation Market Garden has failed and that another tactic must be chosen. The focus shifts to Venlo, the Germans’ key bridgehead, which also provides access to the Ruhr. Toby and his men stop in Oeffelt and Haps and here they wait for what is to come.
Operation Aintree
Meanwhile, weather conditions deteriorated tremendously due to incessant rainfall. Due to the bad weather, the Lincolnshires only leave Haps on 11 October. During the afternoon, they reach the assembly point, east of Sint Anthonis. They are kept in reserve there for the battle that is now being fought around Overloon. This battle has become part of what British commanders call “Operation Aintree”.
The 8th Infantry Brigade is tasked with capturing Overloon and advancing towards Venray. This operation has been ongoing for days, progress is minimal and losses are high. As a result, the Lincolnshires will also be deployed soon enough. Shortly before night falls, Toby and his men hear that the village of Overloon has finally fallen and that the battalions of the 8th Division are struggling to hold out.
On Friday 13 October, the 9th brigade advances towards Merselo, led by the Royal Ulster Rifles, followed by the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and finally the Lincolnshires, with Toby and his battalion. They are supported by some Churchill tanks of the 4th Tank Grenadier Guards. They face the difficult task of capturing the open forecourt of the Loobeek and clearing the woodlands. The Germans have entrenched themselves in this and are awaiting the Allied attack.
Apart from the difficult terrain, two other factors played an important role; the Germans dotted the whole area with their dreaded “Shuhminen”. These wooden mines are difficult to detect and usually do not kill directly, but inflict severe injury to the victim’s legs.
In addition, the German troops have a strategic observation point from Venray’s church tower. Any Allied troop movement is watched and immediately relayed to their artillery, which immediately answers any Allied attack with a barrage of shells.
Around noon, the Royal Ulster Rifles spring into action. They attack the largest forest, immediately followed by the King’s Own Scottish Borderers who attack the same kind of forest on the right. Behind this woodland is an open, flat area with another woodland behind it.
The Lincolnshires’ order, with Toby and his men, is to cross the first forest quickly, once it is taken by the battalions of the Royal Ulster Rifles and the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Then cross the open ground, including the Loobeek and then clear the last forest of Germans.
It soon emerges that the first two battalions are barely making any progress, leaving the Lincolnshires out of the battle all day. Eventually they decide that the next day they will make another attempt. The battalions dig in on the ground and try to keep warm and dry. Not much comes of sleep in these conditions.
14 october 1944
At first daylight on 14 October, Toby sends his men to attack and the early surprise attack seems to turn out well. They are initially bombarded from afar with only light ammunition from the woods.
But on reaching the open forecourt of the Loobeek, the Germans have now recovered and the Lincolnshires are bombarded with heavy artillery and mortars. Added to this, the whole terrain is littered with mines. Within minutes, the company suffers so many losses that continuing is impossible. Toby, as the responsible commander, decides to lay a smoke screen and make his men retreat.
After this disastrous start, it is clear that a firmer plan of attack is needed to still win this battle. At 15.30 an all-or-nothing attack is planned, with full artillery division support and an additional tank division on the right flank.
Exactly at the appointed time, the artillery barrage erupts and the battalions launch their attack. At that moment, the Lincolnshires show the most courage and determination in the regiment’s entire history.
Although conditions are still as bad as they were in the early morning, the men now do not allow themselves to be pushed back. The order is to clear and take the forest, so it must and will be done! Men who are killed or wounded in the vanguard are passed by and only met by the rear. The attack continues at all costs.
The Lincolnshires encounter fierce German opposition. As a result, the unit suffers heavy losses. Eyewitnesses compare the battle to that of WWI, in which soldiers were sent from their trenches into the deadly no-man’s land.
Toby also takes the lead in the battle and enters the open terrain, heavily strafed by the roaring German artillery. An eyewitness later states that in the chaos, he sees Toby still to his right. Toby makes a wide-arm gesture to move his men forward, to which a mortar blast follows close behind. As the powder fumes lift, he sees Toby lying mortally wounded.
After years of training and only a few weeks at the front, Toby is killed in his very first major battle. “A terrible loss for the regiment,” the eyewitness adds in his account.
Toby is temporarily buried the next day in a field grave and later reburied in the Overloon War Cemetery, No I.B.10.
Finally, the Lincolnshires reach the last forest. A few Germans fighting on are still dealt with, but many throw away their weapons and flee the woods and retreat towards Venray. The battle continues unabated and it takes another three days before Venray is also liberated. The Lincolnshires suffered so many losses that the remaining troops are not deployed any further and stay behind in the conquered area between Overloon and Venray.
