LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Alan Duncan Johann SMITH
Service No: 420634
Born: Rabaul PNG, 19 October 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941
Unit: No. 142 Squadron (RAF), Oudna, Tunisia
Died: Air Operations: (No. 142 Squadron Wellington aircraft LN566), Italy, 24 November 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Staglieno Cemetery, Genoa, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Campbell Mills Smith and Fredericka Josephine Smith, of Broadway, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington LN566 took off at 1639 hours on the night of 24th November 1943, detailed to bomb Turin, Italy. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Lieutenant Scarlett of a NZ Ground Reconnaissance Unit later reported that “From information given to him by local Italians it appears that four engine aircraft were flying low over mountainous country on in November 1943. There was thick fog on the mountains at the time and one of the planes crashed on a hillside through bad visibility. The wreck was not discovered until 5th December 1943 by Italian civilians. Local German troops were notified and they brought six bodies down to Propate where they were buried.”
The crew members of LN566 were:
Sergeant Horace Alfred Clark (1295124) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Robson Knight (659065) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant John Anthony LeBoldus (R/15568) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alan Duncan Johann Smith (420634) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Frank Eric Summers (1335486) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Reginald Charles Tyas (411617) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/38/348