LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Harold SMITH
Service No: 408883
Born: Carlton VIC, 13 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1941
Unit: No. 601 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 601 Squadron Spitfire aircraft MH778), Italy, 6 September 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Gradara War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold George and Violet Ethel Smith, of North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 6 September 1944, Spitfire MH778 was detailed to bomb and strafe road movements north of Coriano, Italy. The aircraft was seen to catch fire and crash. On the 11 September 1944 information was received from Army sources that a burnt out wreck of a Spitfire had been found 3 miles north east of Coriano on the road to Musano, the position just having been taken by the Allies. Squadron personnel proceeded to the site and found the wreck of Spitfire MH778 with Flight Lieutenant Smith’s body still in the aircraft.
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, 166/38/676