Benjamin Franklin Smotherman
Military
Uploaded by daughter N. Jan Davis
Object Number - UPL 54763 - Benjamin F. Smotherman
Assigned to 327BS, 92BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 28 July 1943 in B-17 42-29798. Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft III and Stalag VIIA.
Awards: AM, POW, American Campaign, EAME, WWII Victory
Post War: Retired as Colonel, USAF
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 6397902
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 326th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 326th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 326th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16044193
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Bombardier; Togglier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 326th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17088641
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 325th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 28 July 1943
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag 7a, Moosburg
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Fort Worth, Texas | 10 April 1919 | Born Fort Worth, Texas |
|
Lived in |
Fort Worth, Texas | 16 October 1940 | 2420 Loving Avenue Student at North Texas Agricultural College (now the University of North Texas) |
|
Enlisted |
Dallas, Texas | 6 January 1942 | Enlisted Dallas, Texas |
|
Other Shot Down/Force Landed |
near Veenendaal, Netherlands | 28 July 1943 | Damaged by flak the a/c was forced to crash land by German fighters at approximately 1215 hours. Pilot 1st Lt. B.J.J. Smothermann O-664075 USAAF Survived POW Co-Pilot 2nd Lt. D. Polak O-736342 USAAF Survived POW Navigator 2nd Lt. S.J. Leigh O-791602 USAAF Survived POW Bombardier S/Sgt. W.V. Mc Kenzie 16044193 USAAF Survived POW Engineer T/Sgt. J.A. Pearson 14041258 USAAF Survived POW Radio Operator T/Sgt. J.J. Fogarty 12036012 USAAF Survived POW LW Gunner S/Sgt. C.L. Moore 17088641 USAAF Survived POW RW Gunner S/Sgt. J.W. O'Connell 39826220 USAAF Survived POW BT Gunner S/Sgt. V.M. Chandler 06397902 USAAF Survived POW T Gunner Sgt. F. Rentz jr. 12012725 USAAF Survived POW |
|
Prisoner of war Prisoner of War (POW) |
Zagan, Poland | 28 July 1943 - 1 May 1945 | Stalag Luft III later moved to Stalag VIIA at Moosberg, Germany (dates are approximate) |
|
Died |
San Antonio, Texas | 2 July 1992 | Died San Antonio, Texas |
|
Buried |
Fort Worth, Texas | 6 July 1992 | Mount Olivet Cemetery Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA |
Revisions
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/20260886:2238?tid=&pi…
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8939&h=1361029…
https://www.verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&…
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117670281/benjamin-f-smotherman
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2226004:2345?tid=&pid…
Corrected a/c to 42-29798; MACR has been corrected
Other information and image submitted by daughter Jan Davis
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 657
