Born at Geraldton WA, CoE. Enlisted 17 July 1918 age 21, hairdresser. Nok father, Thomas Andrew Smith of Hastings Villa Keane St, Cottesloe Beach. Roy was the brother of Pte Albert Cecil Smith 2804 killed in action. Roy Smith embarked at Fremantle 29 October 1918 per A36 Boonah. The war was over when the ship reached South Africa and the returned to Australia to disembark the passengers at Woodmans Point, south of Fremantle. The quarantine station was at Woodman Point and the landing there resulted from concerns that Boonah passengers were infected with Spanish Influenza at Durban in South Africa. World estimates of the deaths from Spanish Influenza vary between 20 and 50 million. More than a million of Australia’s five million people were infected and 15,000 died. The term Spanish flu came from a rumour that the King of Spain was the first victim. There is no proof of this. A children’s skipping rhyme of the flu era was: I had a little bird, Its name was Enza. I opened the window and in-flew-Enza.
