Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Samuel William and Freda Constance Adelaide Smith of Whittlesea, Victoria, Australia. 

Raised in Victoria and educated at Melbourne High School.

Before the war he worked as a clerk in the water supply office in Melbourne.

Described on enlisting as 22yrs 6mths old; 5' 10" tall; single; 156 lbs;
fresh complexion; hazel eyes; dark medium hair; Church of England.

1/7/1940      took oath at No.1 Recruiting Centre, Melbourne, VIC

11/11/1940  enlisted at No.1 Recruiting Centre, RAAF, Melbourne, VIC
                   as  Sergeant

Although he had no previous flying experience, he trained as a pilot. He was posted to the RAAF's No. 457 Squadron, based on the Isle of Man.

1/5/1941      received his 'Flying Badge'

17/7/1941    embarked from Australia

Equipped with Supermarine Spitfires, No.457 Squadron became part of 9 Group of Fighter Command. It prepared Spitfire pilots for other squadrons, but in March 1942 it was redeployed for more active service. For the next two months it conducted patrols over south-east England and the English Channel; it also escorted bombing raids and conducted fighter sweeps to engage enemy aircraft in the skies above German-occupied France and Belgium.

On 9 May 1942, Smith and his squadron were heading home after escorting a bomber group on an operation into occupied France when they were "jumped" by more than 20 enemy Focke-Wulf 190 fighters. Smith was last seen engaged in a dogfight at 30,000 feet over the English Channel.

In the squadron's operations record book, Sergeant Smith's commanding officer wrote that he was "a good pilot and popular. His quiet, calm way of going about his duties gave confidence to his fellow pilots. He had been recommended for his Commission."

20/10/2011  -  From "The Australian" Newspaper:

"Wreckage of RAAF Spitfire from WWII unearthed in French village "

AMATEUR aviation historians have unearthed the wreckage of a Royal Australian Air Force Spitfire that crashed in northern France during World War II and the skeletal remains of its pilot.
The wreckage of the plane, which was shot down in action and crashed in May 1942 near the village of Hardifort, was dug up from beneath five metres of soil, local officials said.

The fighter was in pieces but the bones of its pilot - identified by tags as W.J. Smith of the RAAF, service number 400942 - were recovered.

Officials from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), which manages war cemeteries for citizens of British Commonwealth nations who died during World War I and II, have taken charge of the pilot's remains for eventual burial.

According to the CWGC website, William James Smith was a sergeant with 457 squadron of the RAAF.

The wreckage of the plane will be delivered to La Coupole, a former rocket base turned war museum in the nearby town of Saint Omer.

The 89-year-old former mayor of Hardifort, Jean Bogaert, assisted the researchers in finding the wreckage and remembered seeing the plane crashing when he was 20 years old.  "We saw it in the distance and there was a loud noise, a cloud of dust and that was it," he said.

Sergeant Smith was just 24 years old when he died.

His remains were discovered in northern France in October 2011 by

Historian Andy Saunders, from Hastings, East Sussex, during the excavation of farm land.

He and a film crew from the Discovery History Channel were searching for a Spitfire that had been donated by the Parker Pen Company at the time.

His younger brother Bert, (who was only 14 yrs old when William enlisted), at that time aged 84 and the last surviving member of the pilot's immediate family, gave a moving eulogy at the funeral.

"I tried so hard to fill his shoes when I was growing up," he told those gathered.
"Bill, you will always be to us that dashing, handsome fighter pilot who gave his life for us, for his family, for his country and for the people of France. We shall never forget."

As William's body was originally never recovered, his name is commemorated on Panel 113
at the Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede, Surrey UK.

His name is also commemorated on Panel 106 at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT.

Now - his plane and skeleton has been found, he was exhumed and reburied:

The ceremony included ceremonial rifle volleys by Australia’s Federation Guard, the laying of wreaths, recital of The Ode and the Last Post, and Rouse bugle calls.

19/4/2012     buried in  Cassel Communal Cemetery Extension
                                  Row E. Grave 6

Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan.   7/6/2016.  Lest we forget.