Charles Lloyd Smith Jr
MilitaryHaving enlisted in the Air Corps well before the start of the US involvement in the conflict, Charles Smith was sent overseas and was assigned to the 381st Bomb Group / 535th Bomb Squadron as a Navigator. He was on board B-17 # 42-3540 when it went down on return from the 29 February 1944 mission to Leverkusen / Solingen, Germany.
Bailing out of the Fortress, he landed near Amay (HUY), Belgium and was immediately helped by Belgian patriots and Underground members, particularly by the Comète evasion network (the Comet Line). Moved to Liège then to Brussels, he was hidden in many safe places until he was arrested by the Gestapo in Schaerbeek, Brussels on 7 May 1944. Incarcerated in the Prison of Saint-Gilles in Brussels, he refused to divulge any information about his helpers and was ultimately sent to a camp in Beverlo in Northern Belgium. When advancing Allied troops liberated most parts of Belgium in the first days of September, the Germans left the camp. Wright and some others decided to leave on their own and they were liberated by British troops on 7 September in the town of Beringen. Charles Wright was back in England on 9 September. Sent back to the United States, he stayed for a time in the Air Force and retired with the rank of Captain. Escape & Evasion Report -E&E 1893. See the story of his evasion at www.evasioncomete.org
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33327732
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13130919
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32426578
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner / Flight Engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-794661
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38219887
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Lucifer Jr III, Bacta-Th-Sac
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 535th Bomb Squadron
Missions
- Date: 1 December 1943
- Date: 26 November 1943
- Date: 7 November 1943
- Date: 5 November 1943
- Date: 3 November 1943
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
San Diego, California, United States | 16 May 1916 | the son of Charles and Clara Smith |
Other Evaded |
Belgium | 1 December 1943 - 7 September 1944 | Landed near Huy, Belgium. Evaded with the help of Belgian patriots and the Comet evasion network. Hidden in Belgium. Arrested in Schaerbeek, Brussels on 7 May. Incarcerated at the Saint-Gilles prison in Brussels, then sent to a camp in Beverlo. When the Germans left the camp fleeing advancing British troops, Wright left towards Beringen where he was liberated by a British unit. Back in England on 9 September 1944. |
Died |
Bend, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States | 22 August 1983 | |
Portland, Oregon, United States | |||
Enlisted |
The 1940 US Census mentions he was in the Army Air Corps at the time, so his name doesn’t appear in NARA’s WWII Enlistment records database | ||
Buried |
Pilot Butte Cemetery, Bend, Oregon, United States |
Revisions
MACR 1660
NARA WWII Enlistment records
NARA WWII POW records
Escape & Evasion Report - E&E 1893
Research for www.evasioncomete.org
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 1660 / MACR 1660, www.381st.org/UnitHistory/Data/Roster.aspx / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database