James I Smouse Jr
Military ROLL OF HONOURKilled in Action (KIA) 7 April 1945 in A/C #42-31366.
AM w/ Oak Leaf Cluster/ PH
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
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Old outhouse - never a dry run, snake eyes.
- Unit: 452nd Bomb Group 731st Bomb Squadron
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Los Angeles, California, USA | | |
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
Germany | 7 April 1945 | From Leslie Pelham Pitts (731st Bomb Squadron) flight diary entry: Apr 7, 1945: Smouse [co-pilot of #807 "Dream Gal" as of Feb 6, 1945] flew with Owens as co-pilot. His ship was rammed by Me-109 out of control. Suppose he was killed instantly. [According to a roster developed by the 452nd Bomb Group Association, of which I am a member, both First Officer James I. Smouse, Jr. and 2nd Lt David L. Owens were killed inaction on April 7, 1945.] [Further information developed from 452nd Bomb Group's newsletter of Dec 2022 is that this mission was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (renamed a Presidential Unit Citation in 1966) "for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy." The Group sent 37 aircraft to bomb the German jet fighter base at Kaltenkirchen, Germany. The German resistance was intense including air to air jamming of B-17s by German fighters. Four of the Group's planes were lost that day and thirteen suffered battle damage.] [Note: "Mission 931. 1,314 bombers [B-17 and B-24] and 898 fighters [P-47 and P-51] are dispatched to hit airfields, oil and munitions depots and explosive plants in C[entral] and N[orth] Germany; all primary targets are bombed visually." Smouse's plane was one of 15 lost in this raid. This mission information from The Might Eighth Air Force calendar web site.] Flight diary of L P Piits is in possession of his son. |
Revisions
Events of Smouse's last mission come from the flight diary of L P Pitts, 731st Bomb Squadron, which is in possession of his son. Additional research was done by son for a post on his blog -- http://colcampbellbarracks.blogspot.com/2020/02/what-did-you-do-in-war-daddy-part-3-c.html .
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MACR 13886 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database