Name:
Martin A Smith
Rank:
Staff Sergeant
Serial Number:
11098895
Unit:
452nd Bombardment Group, Heavy
Date of Death:
0000-00-00
State:
New Jersey
Cemetery:
Plot:
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
French Legion of Honor, Grande Medal of the French State
Comments:
Born on 27 July 1913 From Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey Tail Gunner of the B-17 Flying Fortress 42-102572 9ZN "Why Worry II" that took off from Station 142 Deopham Green in Norfolk, UK, on May 27, 1944 on a mission to bomb Strasbourg, France. The plane was hit by flak and was forced to do a belly landing in a field 1 km NE of Avoudrey, France, as it was lost and short of fuel. The entire crew survived the landing at 1320 in the afternoon. S/SGT Smith was taken as a POW to Stalag Luft 4 Gross-Tychow. He would spend almost a year as a POW. Later married Florrie (Baybutt) Smith and was the father of Linda and Karen Smith. He settled in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts He died on 1 May 2017 after a short illness.