WW1 veteran Issy Smith commemorated at plaque unveiling

It commemorates Issy Smith VC, a Jewish soldier who won the Victoria Cross for his bravery near Ypres.

The plaque now stands on a wall at the Navarino Road flats in Dalston Lane, where Mr Smith once lived. Martin Sugarman, chairman of Hackney AJEX, organised the memorial.

Born Ishroulch Shmeilowitz in Istanbul to Russian-Jewish parents, Mr Smith stowed away to London at the age of 11. He joined the Manchester Regiment in 1904, serving in India before returning to England.

He was a reservist living in Australia at the outbreak of the First World War and was called up for active service.

In April 1915, near Ypres, he repeatedly entered No Man’s Land to rescue wounded comrades, acts for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

One citation read: "For most conspicuous bravery on 26 April 1915, near Ypres, when he left his Company on his own initiative and went well forward towards the enemy's position to assist a severely wounded man, whom he carried a distance of 250 yards into safety, whilst exposed the whole time to heavy machine-gun and rifle fire."

Mr Smith was evacuated to England due to illness and later promoted to sergeant. He went on a government-sponsored speaking tour before returning to service in Basra, where he was wounded and caught malaria. He also served in Palestine before being demobilised in 1918.

In addition to the Victoria Cross, he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and the Russian Cross of St George.

Mr Smith attended the 1920 burial of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey and unveiled the war memorial at Hackney St John's Church in 1921. He lived at Navarino Mansions in Dalston for around eight years.

In 1927, he emigrated to Australia, where he became active in veterans’ associations, served as a councillor, and worked in various jobs. He died of a heart attack on 10 September 1940 at the age of 50.

Jerry Klinger, president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, donated the plaque.