20 March 2025
A soldier and aviator who served in both world wars has been posthumously awarded his entitlements after History and Heritage – Air Force (HH–AF) personnel uncovered them.
The HH–AF’s Living History Program (LHP) team was researching the military service of Squadron Leader Francis Ryan Smith MC DFC when they discovered he might be entitled to the War Medal 1939–1945 and Australian Service Medal 1939–1945.
After the Directorate of Honours and Awards confirmed the entitlements, LHP worked with the Australian Defence Section in London to arrange the presentation of the medals and an accompanying letter from Chief of Air Force Air Marshall Stephen Chappell to Squadron Leader Smith’s granddaughter Sally O'Shaugnessy, who lives in the UK.
On March 7, HH-AF personnel presented the service medals to Squadron Leader Smith’s descendants in the Royal Air Force Central Church of St Clement Danes in London.
“It has been a privilege to present the service medals of this remarkable Australian to his family,” Wing Commander Rich MacNeil, head of LHP, said.
“Squadron Leader Smith was a courageous and highly skilled soldier and aviator whose service in both world wars continues to inspire current generations of ADF personnel.”
While serving with the 31st Battalion in 1916, then-Second Lieutenant Smith received the Military Cross after leading a raid on German trenches while severely injured.
'It has been a privilege to present the service medals of this remarkable Australian to his family.'
Later serving as a pilot with 2 Squadron Australian Flying Corps in 1918, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his audacious actions in aerial combat.
Squadron Leader Smith then volunteered for the Air Force during World War 2, joining the RAAF’s Administrative and Special Duties Branch in 1941, where he made a significant contribution to the development of the Air Training Corps in southern Queensland.
HH–AF is writing a book on the life and military service of Squadron Leader Smith, which is due to be published in 2027.
