Alfred Lionel Smith holding up a bullet which had remained in his left lung for 26 years after he was shot in 1914

Gunner Alfred Lionel Smith (74199) of the 122nd Battery, 28th Brigade, RFA was officially reported as having been been killed in action at Le Cateau on the 26 August 1914. While Smith was indeed shot twice, once in the ankle and once in the back, he was actually taken prisoner and evacuated by German forces.

Smith woke up on a train being transported to a prisoner of war (POW) camp in Germany. A POW for the remainder of the War, Smith attempted escape three times but was recaptured. His mother Caroline died in 1915 believing her son had been killed. His father was informed of his POW status before Alfred eventually returned home. 26 years after being wounded Alfred collapsed in the street and, after an X-ray at the Royal Brompton Hospital, it was discovered that he was still carrying a bullet in his left lung. The bullet was successfully removed in an operation watched by 32 surgeons from around the world. Smith died in 1967.

From a collection relating to Gunner Alfred Lionel Smith, 122nd Battery, 28th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.