In memory of Private 74333 - Henry Archibald Smith

Requiem for Archie (Into The Light That Never More Will Fade)

This is part of a project that is going to take me a few months to complete...in memory of my Great Uncle Henry Archibald Smith ("Archie"). 1895-1918.

Archie was a member of the Tank Corps that fought at the Battle of Amiens - one of the most decisive battles of WW1.

Requiem for Archie Movement 9: Eve of The Battle Of Amiens

This track is a collaboration with one of my favourite SC artists Katherine Chatham. Katherine is not only a fantastic singer but a talented flute player. Her Native American Flute is being used by Katherine on this track.
Be sure to check out Katherine's work at:

https://soundcloud.com/katherine-chatham


Requiem For Archie Movement 1:Prelude (with Katherine Chatham)

This is another puece in memory of my Great Uncle Archie. The elder man in the photo is Archie whilst the little chap is his brother Roland (my grandfateher).

Requiem for Archie Movement 2:Lullaby

After Archie was severely injured in the head at the Battle of Loos he was hospitalised for 16 weeks before returning to the trenches.

Requiem for Archie Movement 6 : The Convalescent

Archie joined the Machine Gun Corps and fought at The Battle OF Loos in October 1915 and was severely wounded in the head and spent 16 weeks in hospital and returned to the theatre of war in February 1916.........

Requiem for Archie Movement 5: Battle of Loos

Not much is known of Archie's early life, expect that he worked as a foreman bottler at the Hopcraft and Norris Brewery in Brackley.

Requiem for Archie Movement 3 : The Hopcraft Bottler

This is the last track of the Requiem for Archie series. The eulogy is from the play The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion (a play about the lives of TE Lawrence and Robert Graves). The eulogy is read by my friend Steve who played the part of Robert Graves). 

Requiem for Archie Movement 12 : Eulogy

Requiem For Archie Movement 8: The Runner

The prayer book in the photo was found in the tank that Archie died in..........................

Requiem For Archie Movement 11 : The Prayer Book

I have not done an Archie piece for a while  - Lillah was Archie's sister (and indeed my Great Aunt)

Requiem For Archie Movement 7: Letters For Lillah

This is the penultimate piece (well in order of composition) in the Archie series. For such a short track it went through several changed as I was never happy with it.....I guess a true labour of love!

Requiem for Archie Movement 4: The Volunteer

This is the last of the Archie tracks. AmientsLe Quesnal is the last battle he fought in...........................

Requiem for Archie Movement 10: Amiens(Le Quesnel)

I started creating music on my old PC back in 2002 using DAWs such as Buzz, Fl Studio and Reason. As my artist name suggest I mostly compose tunes that have an ambient edge. My main passion is creating soundscapes, be they soft drifting drones/piano pieces/heavily synth driven, weirdly abstract and classical and orchestral pieces. I mainly compose using apps on my IPad but also make use of whatever instruments I have lying around such as my Pocket Operators, Modal Craftsynth, my favourite is an Early Learning Centre keyboard.

In the past my tracks have been played in BBC Radio Oxford and BBC 6 Music. Over the years I have collaborated with people from all over the world. Please message me if you would like to collaborate 😀

Requiem for Archie (Into The Light That Never More Will Fade)

TheOxfordAmbientCollective