Sidney Smith '26
Date of birth: August 12, 1903
Date of death: March 1, 1942
Age: 38
Lucky Bag
From the 1926 Lucky Bag:
Sidney Layton Smith
Baltimore, Maryland
THIS is a piece of that well-known alloy, "Baltimorean" : savant, a Snake, and a good sport.
Sid is the son of a veteran of two wars. His father once navigated a bateau from Cienfuegos to Key West, without a compass. Sid promises to be as seaworthy, for he knows the Navy from stem to stern.
Though easy going and cheerful, this lad has not been without his troubles since he became one of the spoiled and pampered pets. A too damp combat, with the First Class, on the night before graduation gave Sid a rough start on a hard Youngster cruise, which was destined to be filled with visions of a leaveless September. Another hectic time in his life came when he fell heir to two stripes after the Army-Navy tilt Youngster year. He was able, however, to lead his platoon safely back to Crabtown.
The only thing Sid ever kicked about, besides a delay in receiving the daily paper, was a soccer ball for the class team. His comprehensive limbs and adequate feet
probably led him to that field, where men shout and shins are broken.
"Judas rip! No soap! And I didn't get but three letters yesterday."
Choir (4); Star (4, 3); Class Soccer (2); Lucky Bag Staff; Black N (1).
Loss
Sidney was lost when USS Houston (CA 30) was sunk on on March 1, 1942 during the Battle of Sunda Strait. He was the ship's gunnery plotting room officer.
His wife was listed as next of kin.
Biography
From Find A Grave:
S. L. Smith was a Commander in the United States Navy. He was the son of Layton Fontaine Smith and Mary Alexander Beasley Smith - born and brought up in Maryland in the household of his mother's parents. He attended the U.S. Navel Academy. When he was 23, he married Katherine L. Bechtold Smith and in 1930 they were living with her parents. Sidney and Katherine had two sons Sidney L. Smith Jr. and Gordon Leigh Smith who was born March 6 1935.
He was not officially declared dead until December 15, 1945; this also explains his late listing on the Class of 1926 panel in Memorial Hall.
Class of 1926
Sidney is one of 36 members of the Class of 1926 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
