Good afternoon,
I'm hoping someone can find out where and when this man passed.
I have little on him.
He was a 2nd Lt in the USAAF (ASN O-698929) when he was shot down in 1944.
Grateful for any help.
DTD
'
Hi "DareToDiscover" - I hope ya don't mind me 'chiming-in' on your thread ?
This may not pertain to his death, but it most certainly WILL pad-out his WW.II participation
I'm an aircraft enthusiast, particularly involved (lifelong), with WW.II
Started building AIRFIX kits in the late 1960's & built my first Liberator, way back in Feb' 1971
So, I went looking for "J.H.S" & found some interesting onfo' on him, straight-away
Amazingly, his service number matches EXACTLY the one you gave, so we know it's him.
I'll list the points which 'might' be of further interest....
1, "2nd Lt James Henry Smith" - service number "O-698929", United States Army Air Force
2, Served with the 493rd Bomb Group operating out of Station 152 USAAF, Debach, Suffolk (UK)
2a, The individual squadron he served in, was the 862nd Bomb Squadron
3, Flew combat in Consolidated B.24 Liberators - B.G later converted to the Boeing B.17-'G'
That in itself is VERY unusual in the 8th Air Force - To use BOTH types of USAAF "Heavies".
All other Bomb Groups were allocated just the one type, either B.24's, or B.17's
Am generalising here, but the '1st Air Division' (& 3rd, too), ALL flew in Boeing B.17's
For ease of use (mainly logistics), the Consolidated B.24's were used by the 2nd Air Division
However, "JHS" (your man), appears to've been in the 3rd Air-Div', hence the later conversion**
** (which clearly took place AFTER he'd already been shot-down)
4, James Henry Smith's role (position) on-board the B.24 was as the a/c's own "Bombardier"
(operating the famous 'Norden' Bombsight)
5, He was shot-down on the 22nd June 1944 - (as I said, before the 493rd converted to B.17's)
6, The B.24 Liberator he was shot-down in, was a/c serial "42-52759"
7, "42-52759" was nicknamed "Lucille" by the crew & carried the fuselage codes "8M-T"
8, "42-52759" took a Flak hit at 22,000ft, thereafter, a section of the right-wing caught fire
9, Three of the crew managed to 'Evade Capture', including the Pilot, 2nd/Lt Bill Kaplan
10, By chance & good fortune, ALL of the crew survived, but the rest were taken P.o.W
Just for completeness, "42-52759" was a Consolidated B.24-'H' (version), built by Ford
(Ford Mo.Co)
So, it was shot-down on only the 493rd's eleventh mission.
By chance, about 7-10 years ago, I managed to pick-up some decal sheets for B.24s
This unit (493rd), also had a VERY talented artist, named Phil Brinkman... (see below)
Quite a few of their B.24s, were "Nose Painted" & nicknamed after
signs of the Zodiac I'll chuck in some pix / links, to give you an idea of what Jim's plane might've looked like **
** (by that, I mean the unit markings & insignia being the same)
Many carried 'nose-art' (& nicknames), yet many also didn't - All down to crew-preference(s)
I know it's only relating to that 22nd June "shoot-down", but it might help fill some detail ?
