(B.4th Sept 1927) Peter Charles Smith & Stella isobell Maddocks (B.16th July 1927)
Paul Charles Smith (B.2nd Oct 1954)	Jayne Smith (B.8th April 1958)	Lesley Smith (15th June 1960)

Peters father worked for the Ministry of Transport, shortly after his birth they moved to Stockport and then when Peter was five came the move to Preston. After elementary school Peter went to Hutton Grammar School where he took and passed his School Certificate. Peter's father Ellis suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, so in 1944 they moved to Bristol and stayed with an aunt in Fishponds Bristol. Peter had left school at 16 and a half and was working at Clifton Bristol in the Prudential office's balancing the daily accounts. After a few months they moved out to Cleeve near Bristol, where a friend of Peter's father found him a job. This was in a wood worker's shop, which had a contract to supply the N.A.A.F.I. with tables and chairs. Their main line was window frames, Peters job was to spray the furniture although his favourite job was making beehives. Peter was paid only £1 a week so at 17 and a half decided to join the navy. He fancied joining the fleet air arm (failed the entrance exam so as a "dipped" C.W. joined the navy as an Ord. seaman under the H.O. (hostilities only) scheme).

By joining at Bristol he was Portsmouth based, so did his basic training at Portsmouth and Pwllheli in north Wales. He did his radar training on the Isle of Man and weighted 10 stone 2 lbs in those days. It was while he was doing his basic training in 1945-46, that his father and mother moved to Barnstaple Devon. Assuming the climate would be better for Ellis's arthritis. It was to the top of Sticklepath Barnstaple they had moved and by the time Peter was demobbed (group 67) they were living at Ebberly Lawn Barnstaple

HMS Euryalus

HMS Adamant

Peter's first ship was the HMS Euryalus, which he boarded in 1946 at Gibraltar. Touring the Mediterranean, Australia, China and Japan. By 1947 Peter was serving on another ship HMS Adamant around the east, as it was coming to the end of his service he transferred to the Aircraft carrier HMS Thesus for the return home to England.

Back with his parents at Ebberly Lawn, Peter was tempted to join up again but got an interview with the TSB bank and was offered a job in Exeter. In the meantime he had been offered a job, this was with Lloyds bank in Cross Street Barnstaple by the manager Freddie Rowe. He therefore declined the job with the TSB bank in Exeter. Stella Isobel Maddocks lived in Sunflower road at this time and walked passed Ebberly Lawn to the Tax office where she worked. So in the mornings Peter would walk her to work and carry on to work at the bank. From the Barnstaple branch Peter was transferred to the Torrington branch. It was while working at the Torrington branch, that Peter and Stella were married at St Peter's Church Barnstaple's (The main church). They lived in Cross Street Torrington while Peter worked at the Torrington branch.