Friday, February 11, 2011

Lt. Smith's Remains Found 66 Years Later

From the Feb. 11th Sydney Morning Herald.

RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Flight Lt. Henry Smith's Spitfire was shot down June 11, 1944, five days after D-Day, while flying a mission in northern France.

He tried to crash land his damaged plane but came down in the Orne River upside-down and he apparently died strapped into his cockpit. The remains of his plane were spotted by a couple walking along the river at low tide back in November.

This April, his remains will be buried at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Ranville in Normandy.

There is a chance that the RAAF might be interested in the remains of the Spitfire.

He was a member of the RAAF's 453 Squadron and had married an English girl he had met in the Women's Auxiliary Force just six months before his death.

It Is Always Great When a MIA is No Longer MIA. --Cooter

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