LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer John James SMITH
Service No: 407934
Born: Prospect SA, 24 January 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 267 Squadron (RAF), Cairo West, Egypt
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 267 Squadron Dakota aircraft FD774), Mediterranean, 9 July 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Francis and Margaret Gertrude Smith, of Glenelg, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Glenelg SA
Remembered: Column 278, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Dakota FD774 of No. 267 Squadron left El Aquina on a non operational flight on 9 July 1943. The aircraft was forced to make a crash landing in rough seas in the sea in position 35.20N 012.00E. The pilot drifted ashore in a dinghy near Sfax, and informed the nearest air unit, 15th Fighter Squadron, USAAF, who undertook searches which were called off on 10 July. FD 774 experienced double engine failure when flying over the sea at 2,000 feet. The cause pointed to petrol starvation. The aircraft was last refueled at Castel Benito where previous trouble had arisen with contaminated fuel. It was later recorded that the missing two crew members had most their lives at sea.
The crew members of FD774 were:
Flight Sergeant R W Cargill (405231) (RNZAF) (Pilot) Survived
Flight Sergeant Daniel James Arthur Hannan (40114) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer John James Smith (407934) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
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, 166/38/206