Smith was born in Oldham and worked in the English textile district of Lancashire. A skilled metalworker, he was part of the Shop Stewards Movement which opposed the production of munitions for the First World War. Opposed to the war, he went to jail for opposing the draft despite the exemption of men with his skill set having to fight. After participating in the failed 1926 general strike, Smith and his wife Dora emigrated to Canada in the same year. In 1928, they moved again to the United States, settling in Detroit.