Orville Peter Smets

Military ROLL OF HONOUR

Killed in Action (KIA) 27 September 1944 in B-24 #42-51532 "Hot Rock".

Connections

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Units served with

A pathfinder B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-51681) of the 453rd Bomb Group flies in formation with a fellow Liberator of the 453rd and and a pathfinder Liberator of the 445th Bomb Group. Image via Alan Rowsell.

445th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

Earl Burton Groves

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32581359
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator

Sylvester Vincent Lello

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 31145800
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier, Enlisted, Nose Gunner

William John Mowat

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 14077061 at enlistment, then O-810929
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Theodore John Myers

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner

John Benjamin Neher

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 37722061
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner

Aircraft

42-51532

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Hot Rock
  • Unit: 445th Bomb Group 446th Bomb Group 703rd Bomb Squadron 705th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

Signal Squares on the airfield at Tibenham, B-24 Liberators of the 398th Bomb Group are visible in the background. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Tibenham Signal Squares.'

Tibenham

  • Site type: Airfield
  • Known as: Tivetshall

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

30 August 1921 Pana, Christian County, Illinois

Enlisted

26 May 1942 Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois

Other

Killed In Action (KIA)

27 September 1944 Wildeck, Germany, in the crash of B-24 #42-51532
Urbana, Illinois, a student at the University of Illinois

Buried

Orville Smets rests at Arlington, in a common grave, with Sylvester Lello, William Mowat and John Spingler

Revisions

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ContributorED-BB
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Sources

Added Awards

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ContributorED-BB
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Sources

https://fr.findagrave.com/memorial/49316593/orville-p-smets

Date
ContributorED-BB
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Sources

MACR 9572
NARA WWII Enlistment records
WWII Draft card

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Birsic, 31 July 1944 Roster AAF #124, MACR 9572, 2AD Honor Roll / Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 9572 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database