Luther Earl Smith
MilitaryB-17G #42-37924 crashed upon landing at Little Staughton on return from training mission on 9 Jan 1944. Right landing gear failed to lower. RTD.
1st mission December 1943.
Tenth mission, 8 February 1944: Hit by flak over target, came back on 2 engines. Navigator wounded in head, threw out all extra weight, jettisoned ball turret, landed under high tension power lines in town of Patcham north of Brighton, England.
Shot down by fighters and crashed near Wesel, GR on a mission to Oschersleben, GR on 22 Feb 1944 in B-17G #42-97488. Prisoner of War (POW). Stalag Luft IV. Severely wounded. Repatriated September 1944.
AM w/ Oak Leaf Cluster/ PH/ POW/ ATO/ EAME/ WW II VM/ DUC w/ Oak Leaf Cluster
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
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Grafton Undermud
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Stow, Maine | 19 February 1923 | |
|
Died |
8 April 2021 |
Revisions
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Flight Record, MACR 2465, Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces