Sergeant Lawrence Smith was attested into the Royal Tank Corps on 28 October 1927 aged 14yrs 2 months, trade recorded as Musician [1].

In World War 2 he was reported missing on 20 April 1941 during operations with No.7 Commando in Cyrenaica (Bardia raid), later found to be a prisoner of war [2][3].

After his release and the end of hostilities on 22 August 1945 he transferred to the Royal Household Cavalry [1].

'Larry was a military man through and through, his father, uncle, and brother all having served. He was a fine clarinetist and worked as a professional musician and music educator. He played the clarinet and was an assistant director in the Royal Life Guards Band while serving in the Household Cavalry. When he retired from military life, he and his family emigrated to Canada in 1951, and then to the United States. While I knew him, he and his family lived in Connecticut, a northeastern state just north of New York City. Upon his retirement he lived happily with his small family - his Scottish wife May, and Gordon, their only son who died in 2017' [4].