Issy Smith - Early Life

Early Life

Smith was born in Alexandria, the son of French citizens Moses and Eva Shmeilowitz, who were of Polish origin. His father was employed by the French Consulate-General as a clerk. Aged 11, Smith embarked as a stowaway aboard a vessel proceeding to London. Undaunted by this unfamiliar environment, Smith attended Berner Street School, Commercial Street, and worked as a deliverer in the East End, then an impoverished ghetto where Yiddish was the predominant spoken language. Persecution and extreme deprivation had compelled millions of Eastern European Jews to migrate to Western Europe, the Americas, and elsewhere. By the time of Issy Smith's arrival, Jewish immigration to Britain had peaked and was further curtailed by the enactment of the Aliens Act in 1905.

He joined the British Army in 1904, becoming a private in the Manchester Regiment. The pseudonym Issy Smith was adopted in the process of enlisting at the behest of a recruiting sergeant. Smith completed his training, serving in South Africa and India with the 1st Battalion. He boxed competitively, winning the British Army's middleweight championship, and played football. While in India, Smith was present at the Delhi Durbar parade, in which the 1st Manchesters participated, and was thus awarded the Delhi Durbar Medal.

Accepting his discharge in 1912, Smith emigrated to Australia after brief employment in London. He lived in the Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale while working for the city's gas company. Retained as a reservist, Smith was mobilised by the British Army after the commencement of hostilities in August 1914. Some sources state that Smith was present at the capture of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force.