Thomas Peter Smith

Military
Captain Thomas P. Smith of the 370th Fighter Squadron, 359th Fighter Group practices archery at East Wretham. Printed Caption on reverse: '359th FG Photos Source: T.P. Smith, via Char Baldridge, Historian Description: #2 T.P. Smith practicing archery.' media-377210.jpg FRE 531 Captain Thomas P. Smith of the 370th Fighter Squadron, 359th Fighter Group practices archery at East Wretham. Printed Caption on reverse: '359th FG Photos Source: T.P. Smith, via Char Baldridge, Historian Description: #2 T.P. Smith practicing archery.' Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 531 - Captain Thomas P. Smith of the 370th Fighter Squadron, 359th Fighter Group practices archery at East Wretham. Printed Caption on reverse: '359th FG...

Out of fuel on an escort mission on 11 April 1944, Pilot Thomas P. Smith crash-landed his P-47 #42-74737 in the small French hamlet of Macou, near the Belgian border. He started walking in a northwesternly direction, crossed the Franco-Belgian border and reached Bernissart, Belgium. He was first helped there by Jean Ravez then by Lucien Duhaut of Quévaucamps. The third Helper he mentions in his Evasion Report is Léon Lefebvre in Chièvres. Other people cared for food, false papers, etc. Brought to Brussels, told that the organization would get him out from there to neutral Switzerland. He was arrested, probably on denunciation/infiltration of the escape line and interned at the Saint-Gilles Prison in Brussels. With other captured airmen and Belgian civilians, he was put on a train for Germany on 2 September 1944. Thanks to the courage and actions of Belgian railway men, the train never left Belgium (“The Phantom Train” episode - see http://www.conscript-heroes.com/escapelines/EEIE-Articles/Art-17-Ghost-…). Smith and others left the train and were freed when Brussels was liberated on 3-4 September 1944. He was driven to Paris for interrogation, interviewed there on 8 September and flown back to England where he arrived the following day. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1781.

Connections

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Units served with

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Unit: 359th Fighter Group 370th Fighter Squadron
P-51 Mustangs (CS-E, serial number 44-13893) nicknamed "Caroline", (CS-L, serial number 44-14733) nicknamed "Ruggie's Ruthie" , (CS-F, serial number 44-13795) nicknamed "Marg" and (CS-K, serial number 44-13966) of the 359th Fighter Group lined up at East Wretham. Associated caption: 'Another line up of P-51s.'
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Caroline
  • Unit: 359th Fighter Group 4th Fighter Group 336th Fighter Squadron 370th Fighter Squadron

Missions

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

22 June 1918 Moodus, East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut

Enlisted

5 September 1941 Hartford, Connecticut

Other

Crash-landed

11 April 1944 with P-47 #42-74737, near Condé-sur-L’Escaut, Nord Department, France

Other

Evaded capture

11 April 1944 Initially evaded capture, with the help of Belgian citizens and members of the Résistance

Other

liberated

3 September 1944 after the train he and other Allied evaders and Belgian civilians had been boarded on never left for Germany, thanks to the efforts of Belgian railway patriots

Other

Promoted to First Lieutenantnt

20 October 1944

Died

12 October 2001 Moodus, Middlesex County, Connecticut
Moodus, East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut

Other

captured

guided from Chièvres to Brussels, with the prospect of being evacuated to Switzerland, he was arrested in Brussels at an unspecified date

Buried

Thomas Smith rests at the Saint Bridgets Cemetery, Moodus, Middlesex County, Connecticut

Revisions

Date
ContributorED-BB
Changes
Sources

Thomas Smith was not "made a Prisoner of War in Holland on 11 April 1944".
He managed to evade before being arrested in Brussels, detained there and liberated on 4 September 1944.
WWII Draft Card
NARA WWII Enlistment Records
NARA Captured German Records - J-831 à https://catalog.archives.gov/id/131495449
NARA Escape & Evasion Report E&E 1781

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Added further information from Ted Damick's 8th Air Force pilots listing.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 3733 / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list

Thomas Peter Smith: Gallery (41 items)