Sgt. Hubert S. Smith

Sgt. Hubert S. Smith

Have you ever been shot in the chest and lived? No… me neither but Hubert Smith did and carried the bullet near his heart for sixteen years!

During the battle of Ypres, Canadian soldier Sgt. Hubert S. Smith from the Prince Albert District was the target of a German sniper. In the breast pocket of his tunic, he carried a small cardboard pocket book which contained the names of the soldiers in his platoon, his wedding picture and a photograph of some of his friends. On August 8th 1916, Sgt. Hubert S. Smith was shot in the chest. The bullet struck him and would have pierced his heart but the pocket book and pictures he carried in his breast pocket deflected the bullet just enough to a non-fatal position just below the heart.

Sgt. Hubert S. Smith carried the bullet near his heart for sixteen years. The bullet remained in his chest until it had moved into an uncomfortable and fatal position. The bullet that has been long inside Sgt. Hubert S. Smith for sixteen years had been removed on the eighteenth anniversary of the declaration of war. July 12th 1932 the corroded metal slug of about one and a half inches in length had been surgically removed from Mr. Smith’s chest.