Arthur Britton Smith CM OOnt MC CD KC (May 13, 1920 – October 28, 2023) was a Canadian philanthropist, businessperson, historical writer, lawyer, and war veteran.

Smith first joined the army in 1935 when, as a 15-year-old schoolboy, he enlisted as a part-time reservist in the 32nd (Kingston) Field Battery, an artillery unit in the Non-Permanent Active Militia.

World War II was underway and that same year Smith was sent overseas to the United Kingdom, posted to the 8th Field Regiment, RCA.

In early July 1944, about a month after D-Day, Smith landed in Normandy, France, as part of the invasion follow-on forces.

[9] On July 20, Smith was artillery Forward Observation Officer (FOO) with a company of the Fusiliers Mont-Royal (FMR), a French-Canadian infantry unit, during fierce and bloody fighting in the area of Verrières, just south of Caen (it was standard practise for the artillery troop commanders to act as FOOs—to in effect lead from the front).

[11] Smith asked a nearby Canadian tank to knock a hole through the wall, which he then rushed through looking for the enemy who had thrown the grenade.

Smith however was wearing body armour—plates of densely moulded plastic that shielded the most vital areas of his torso—which the Canadian Army had issued to infantrymen and forward artillery personnel who were going to Normandy.

As he advanced through a grain field, in dim pre-dawn light, his Universal Carrier—a small, light-tracked armoured vehicle commonly called a "Bren gun carrier"—detonated a German anti-tank mine.

Despite a lining of sandbags in the bottom of the Carrier, Smith's right leg was badly shattered and he was thrown high into the air and out of the vehicle.

After spending several months in hospitals in France, the UK and Canada, Smith began a staff job at Kingston.

[24][25] Following the war, in 1948, Smith joined an infantry reserve unit in Kingston, the Princess of Wales' Own Regiment (PWOR), in which he served as a company commander until 1954.

Esteemed for his philanthropy, he has helped grow his community through generous donations from his eponymous foundation, benefiting the social, economic and cultural fabric of the city.

In 1944, a few days after arriving home from the war and while still recovering from his wounds, Smith married his fiancée of four years, Edith Burpee (“Sally”) Carruthers of Kingston.

[66] Over the years, Smith's hobbies and pastimes included boating, hunting, fishing, tennis, horseback riding, breeding Arabian horses, raising Aberdeen cattle, and collecting old books.