Harold Eugene “Smokey” Smathers was born at Venus, Pinegrove Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania on November 27, 1920. His family called him 'Smokey'. He was the eldest of seven children of William Reed Smathers (4 Jan 1895 – 5 Apr 1951) and Sarah Luella (Smith) Smathers (18 Aug 1891 – 28 Nov 1964), who were born in Pennsylvania. His parents married on February 10, 1920. The family home was at Venus, Pennsylvania, just east of Oil City. His father was an oil well pumper and later a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.
He graduated from Knox High School at Knox, Clarion County, Pennsylvania in 1937. He moved to Derrick City in Foster Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a tool sharpener and dresser for Maitland and Witney, an oil drilling contractor. He registered for the draft at Franklin, Venango County, Pennsylvania on February 16, 1942. He was 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighed 178 pounds, and had gray eyes and black hair. He married Mathilda Jane Tuttle (called Jane) (22 Nov 1923 – 22 Mar 2003) at Allegany, Cattaraugus County, New York on July 18, 1942. They had a daughter, Susan Jane Smathers.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 6, 1942, and was called to active duty on February 1, 1943. In 1944 his wife's address was Limestone, Cattaraugus County, New York, near the New York-Pennsylvania border.
He completed basic training at Miami, Florida, and was chosen for Army Air Forces navigator training. He completed navigator training in Class 44-11 at Selman Field, Monroe, Louisiana, and was appointed a Flight Officer on September 4, 1944. He was then assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Claude E. Gatlin Jr.
The Gatlin crew completed B-17 operational training in the States, and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. They arrived at Station 137 by November 28, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
Flight Officer Smathers and his eight crewmates went missing in action on December 31, 1944 when their aircraft, B-17G 42-97398, went missing during a mission to Hamburg, Germany. After takeoff the aircraft was never seen in formation, and the aircraft and crew were never found. They probably went down in the North Sea.
A Finding of Death (FOD) determination was made for F/O Smathers on January 1, 1946, one year after he went missing in action. His date of death was later established as December 31, 1944. He and his crewmates are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. He also has a cenotaph at McKean County Memorial Park in Lafayette Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania.
B-17G 42-97398 crew:
• Gatlin Jr, Claude E – 2/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Uber, Frank J – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Smathers, Harold E – F/O – Navigator – MIA
• Bybee, Melvin G – Sgt – Togglier – MIA
• King, Robert H – Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Mitchell, Bruce R – Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• Wright, George T – Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – MIA
• Zaiger, Roy J – Sgt – Waist Gunner – MIA
• Kane, Stephen P – Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com