Dacre Henry Deudraeth Smyth | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 May 1923 London, England |
| Died | 3 December 2008 (aged 85) Toorak, Victoria, Australia |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service | Royal Australian Navy |
| Years of service | 1940–1978 |
| Rank | Commodore |
| Commands | HMAS Supply |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of Australia Legion of Honour (France) |
| Relations | Major General Sir Nevill Smyth (father) |
Commodore Dacre Henry Deudraeth Smyth, AO (5 May 1923 – 3 December 2008) was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), an artist and a poet. He joined the RAN in 1940, and participated in the D-Day landings and the Battle of the Coral Sea before retiring as a commodore in 1978.
He was the son of the distinguished British general Nevill Maskelyne Smyth.[1] His mother was Evelyn Olwen (1884–1960), daughter of Sir Osmond Williams, 1st Baronet (1849–1927) of Castell Deudraeth, Penrhyndeudraeth, Merioneth, Wales. and his wife Frances Evelyn (1855–1926), daughter of John Whitehead Greaves.[2]
He served as Deputy Chairman of the Trustees of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance and was a Life Governor of the Shrine. He became well known after his retirement for landscape and seascape painting, publishing fourteen books containing his paintings and poems. He married Jennifer Haggard in 1952, and had four daughters and a son.