Stoker Petty Officer Reginald George Smith, K3252, Royal Navy, was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal after assisting the captain of the stricken warship HMS Raglan, sunk off the Dardanelles on January 20th, 1918.

He gave the news of his medal to his wife Mary Jane at 74 Spencer Road, Luton. The Saturday Telegraph (December 7th, 1918) subsequently revealed that SPO Smith had rendered assistant to his captain (Commander Henry Franklin Chevallier, Viscount Broome) when he was in difficulties in the water following the sinking. Viscount Broome also personally gave him an inscribed gold watch as a token of gratitude.

HMS Raglan was on monitor duty when two enemy warships sneaked out of the Dardanelles and attacked the Raglan and another small monitor ship. Reginald was one of 93 survivors on HMS Raglan, but 127 of the crew perished. He later served on a torpedo boat.

Reginald (pictured) was born in Whaddon, Cambs, on May 13th, 1888. Described as a bricklayer, he joined the Navy in June 1909 and married Mary Jane Clarke in 1911 before moving to Luton. He continued to serve in the Navy until 1921 and later lived in Strathmore Avenue, Luton, where he was residing before he died in 1975. Around the time of the Second World War he was working as a bus driver.