Roberts-Smith, Benjamin VC, MG is an Australian businessman and former soldier in the Australian Army.
Roberts-Smith is the most decorated serving member of the Australian Defence Force, having received the Victoria Cross (VC) in 2011 and the Medal for Gallantry (MG) in 2006.
In 2012, he was also recognized for his leadership as a patrol commander with a Commendation for Distinguished Service.
Roberts-Smith was born in Perth, Western Australia, on November 1, 1978. He is the oldest son of Sue Roberts-Smith and Len Roberts-Smith, a former Supreme Court of Western Australia justice. In 1995,
he graduated from Hale School. Sam, his younger brother, is an opera singer. In the wake of an independent review into “questions of criminal behaviour affecting (Australia’s) Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan,”
Roberts Smith’s time in Afghanistan was scrutinized. The Australian Federal Police have been investigating Roberts-Smith for war crimes since 2018.
Meet Emma Roberts, First Wife of Ben Roberts-Smith
In 1998, Roberts-Smith met Emma Groom at Sydney’s Holsworthy Barracks. She was born into a military household. The pair married at the University of Western Australia on December 6, 2003.
Their divorce was finalized in December 2020. In 2010, their twin daughters were born. The Shepherd Centre, a non-profit philanthropic organization, awarded Roberts-Smith the 2013 Australian Father of the Year.
He moved to Queensland with his then-wife and daughters after retiring from the army in 2015.
