LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Henry Lacy SMITH
Service No: 411539
Born: Sans Souci NSW, 24 February 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 May 1941
Unit: No. 453 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 453 Squadron Spitfire aircraft MJ789), France, 11 June 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Ranville War cemetery, Calvados, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Richard Lacy Smith and Mary Ellen Smith, of Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Edna Smith
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: NSW Department of Education Teachers and Trainees WW2 Honour Roll, Sydney NSW
On 11 June 1944, Spitfire MJ789 flown by Flight Lieutenant Smith was one of three aircraft detailed to patrol a beach head in France. At 2005 hours the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and it started to lose height and emit white fume trails and Flight Lieutenant Smith who was the Leader of the Section said over the radio “I am going to put this thing down in a field.” The aircraft continued to glide towards Quistrehain and crashed in a canal turned over on its back and remained half submerged in water.
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/38/558
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line