Brigadier Robert Edward Osborne-Smith DSO OBE (18 July 1908 – 13 December 1972) was a Jersey-born British Army officer and Indian cricketer. ^[1]

He played one first-class cricket match for the Indian Army against Northern India in the 1934/35 Ranji Trophy. ^[2] He had earlier played twice for the Egypt national cricket team against HM Martineau's XI, and later played for the British Army cricket team against Australia in 1938. ^[3]

Osborne-Smith was commissioned into the British Army in 1929 ^[4] and in 1944 (as a Captain, Temporary Major, Acting Lieutenant-Colonel) ^[5] was commanding officer of 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment in 43rd (Wessex) Division during the Normandy Campaign ( Operation Overlord). He distinguished himself in the fighting round Mont Pinçon and the crossing of the River Seine. ^{[6] [7]} He was involved in the failed attempt to reach Arnhem during the 1944 Operation Market Garden. ^[6] In the fighting round Geilenkirchen ( Operation Clipper):

1 Worcestershire had threaded their way through the battered village of Gilrath and formed up in a depression in front of it. Lieutenant-Colonel R.E. Osborne Smith, a rifle slung over his shoulder, moved amongst the troops. He had a word and a smile for everyone. Indeed, at no time in the campaign did his normal composure or quiet courtesy to all ranks ever desert him. At 2 p.m. he gave the order to advance. ^[8]

A few minutes later, Osborne-Smith was severely wounded by a shell splinter in the leg, and he had to be evacuated. ^[8]

He was awarded a DSO in March 1945 (when his place of residence was given as Tettenhall, Staffordshire) ^[5] and retired as a Brigadier on 19 July 1960. ^[9]

• Maj-Gen H. Essame, The 43rd Wessex Division at War 1944–45, London: William Clowes, 1952.
• Ken Ford, Assault Crossing: The River Seine 1944, 2nd Edn, Bradford: Pen & Sword, 2011, ISBN  978-1-84884-576-3.