Jim Smailes left school when he was thirteen. He worked in agriculture in Western Australia before enlisting in the Australian Army during World War Two. He became a private serving in Timor and then in New Guinea with the 2nd/2nd Independent Company. He was eventually invalided out of the Army and spent two years in various hospitals being treated for his wounds. He later worked in the mining industry, and in 1948 completed a Diploma in Mining Engineering (with Distinction). He also received various other qualifications for the mining industry, and became a full member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
