LIEUT. EDWARD TRELOAR SMART, R.G.A. (S.R.), FLYING OFFICER 2ND SQDN., R.F.C. PRESUMED KILLED IN ACTION WHILST BOMBING ENEMY TROOPS, EAST OF AMIENS, ON MARCH 27TH, 1918, AGED 20. At the School 1911—14 (Day Boy), Lieut. E . T. Smart was the only child of the Rev. John Racster Smart and Mrs. Smart, now of Springfield, North Road, Hythe. His father joined the Staff of the School in 1903, and succeeding the Rev. A. Lucas as Chaplain in January, 1910, was also from September, 1910, House Master of Day Boys "C " He resigned his mastership at Tonbridge before going out to France, December, 1917, and has now established himself at Hythe as a coach of backward boys and of candidates for Army and other examinations. Having been appointed a Temporary C.F. on December 18th, 1917, he was at the Front with the 1st Army from December 18th, 1917, and was attached to No. 6 CCS. at Houchain till July 1st, 1918, when he was transferred to 19th Brigade, R.G.A., at Anzin, remaining with this Brigade till he was demobilised December 31st, 1918. Entering the School from the Castle School, Tonbridge, in September, 1910, E. T. Smart left in July, 1914, and, determining to qualify for railway work as his profession, he became a pupil in the Traffic Department of the South Eastern Railway at London Bridge. He received a commission in the Special Reserve of the R.G.A., dated October 13th, 1915, and from May 21st, 1916, he was in command of a section of the 149th Anti- Aircraft Battery, R.6.A., at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, and subsequently at Echlin, and then from February 2nd, 1917, on Inchcolm Island in the Firth of Forth, till he was seconded to the R.F.C on March 27th, 1917. On completing his R.F.C training he was gazetted a Flying Officer, July 14th, 1917, and on August 25th went out as a Pilot to No. 2 Artillery Observation Squadron, attached to the 1st Army, in France. He was promoted Lieutenant in October, 1917, and had proved himself a good and reliable pilot and, in addition to artillery observation work, had done much valuable photographic work and much bombing by night as well as by day. On March 27th, 1918, in the course of the great German offensive, he went out to bomb and machine gun the advancing Hun columns in the Bray-Roye Sector, East of Amiens, and failed to return. He was flying a good machine with dual control, accompanied by an observer who was also a good pilot, and when his CO. searched the battleground from the air next day, he could find no sign of a machine's having " crashed " or been shot down. It was also ascertained that the German Air Force knew nothing of their fate. It was therefore hoped that they might prove to be prisoners, having been compelled by engine trouble to land behind or amongst the advancing enemy. No definite evidence was ever obtained, and it was not till the spring of 1920 that their death in action on March 27th, 1918, was officially presumed. The Second in Command of No. 2 Squadron wrote:— " By the notification as missing of E. T. Smart a link with the Squadron and, more particularly, with B Flight, as we knew it, is snapped. " His cheery personality and never-failing good humour under trying circumstances went far to render the Flight such a happy crowd. "His work at first was patrol, later artillery registrations, and subsequently, as he gained experience, photography, both vertical and oblique. The Squadron photographic records show many examples of his good work done under bad conditions. "When he was sent in his early days to interview an enraged battery commander, whose guns had refused to answer to the corrections sent from the air, he poured oil on the troubled waters in his own inimitable way, and quickly restored cordial relations. One could multiply instances of this gift of his, but one further example will suffice. Once, owing to engine failure, he perched on the roof of a house in his machine. He climbed down through the breach and met the astounded occupants on the stairs. His entry took some explaining, but he was quickly on good terms with his hosts. "It was not his turn for the last trip that he made, but he was so eager to take his share in the big battle that he prevailed on another pilot to let him take his place."