Reginald Ernest Smith                                                                    Updated: 22 JAN 2022

Airman: e777927.htm Surname: Smith Init: R E Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 460

P_link: p485.htm Plane: LAN W4325 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: W. Slagelse?

Crash_d: d200443 Buried_d: e777 C_link: e777.htm At_Next: NO KNOWN

Sergeant Reginald Ernest Smith, 21 år, var søn af Capt. George Ernest Smith, M.C., og Ethel Mary Smith, Chichester, Sussex, United Kingdom.
Hans navn er på Panel 165 på the Runnymede Memorial blandt mere end 20.000 navne på flyvere, der ikke har en kendt grav. (Kilde: CWGC)
Han var Wireless Operator / Air Gunner på LAN W4325. (Kilde: National Archives of Australia - Hogben's items s. 7)

"Lancaster W4325 startede fra RAF Breighton for at angribe havnen og U-bådsværfter i Stettin, Polen. Intet blev hørt fra flyet efter start og det kom ikke tilbage til basen. Bombelast: 1 x 4000 punds bombe, 48 x 30 pund and 540 x 4 pund brandbomber. 17 fly fra denne squadron deltog i bombetogtet."
Kilde: National Archives of Australia with page 55 of this pdf-file by Alan Storr. Se Stettin + Rostock 20-21 April 1943 med Google Map p149-167.

Telegram fra RAAF KWAY til RAAF HQRS (page 22 of 47 in Hogben's items at National Archives of Australia):
"Dødsliste modtaget fra tyske myndigheder fastslår, lig af McGlinchy og Dixon bjærget 20/4/1943 nær W. Slagelse. Ingen detaljer om begravelse."

RAAF brev til R.S. Hogbens far (page 5 of 47 in Hogben's items at National Archives of Australia):
"Trods udtømmende efterforskning var det ikke muligt at fastslå, hvor Deres søns fly styrtede ned, eller om ligene af besætningsmedlemmer bortset fra Flight Sergeant McGlinchy og Sergeant Dixon blev bjærget til begravelse. - alle anstrengelser for at lokalisere gravene med Flight Sergeant McGlinchy og Sergeant
Dixon har været uden held. Åbenbart forsømte tyskerne at markere og registrere disse to besætningsmedlemmers grave efter fund og begravelse af deres lig, og de vil uheldigvis nu forblive begravet som ukendte flyvere." (Se også side 11 af 59 af McGlinchy's items) Dixon og McGlinchy var begge Air Gunners.(Hogben's items s.7)

Ingen aviser skrev noget om flystyrt nær "Vest Slagelse"! Slagelse (her) er  9 km øst for Storebælt og 17 km nordøst for nedstyrtningsstedet (her) ved Halsskov!
Hvor styrtede LAN W4325 ned? Sprang de 2 flyvere ud nær "Vest Slagelse"? Blev de bjærget fra havet? Hvad skete der med de andre 5 flyvere?

Se Lancaster fotos. 7 flyvere.

Sergeant Reginald Ernest Smith, 21, was the son of Capt. George Ernest Smith, M.C., and Ethel Mary Smith, of Chichester, Sussex, United Kingdom.
He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 165, among more than 20,000 airmen who have no known grave. (Source: CWGC)
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 99. 
He was the Wireless Operator / Air Gunner of LAN W4325. (Source: National Archives of Australia - Hogben's items p. 7)

"Lancaster W4325 took off from RAF Breighton to attack the port and U boat yards at Stettin, Poland. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did
not return to base. Bomb load 1 x 4000 lb bomb, 48 x 30 lb and 540 x 4 lb incendiaries. Seventeen aircraft from the squadron took part in the raid.
(Source: National Archives of Australia with page 55 of this pdf-file by Alan Storr.) See Stettin + Rostock 20-21 April 1943 with Google Map p149-167.

Telegramme from RAAF KWAY to RAAF HQRS (page 22 of 47 in Hogben's items at National Archives of Australia):
"Death list received from German authorities stating bodies of McGlinchy and Dixon recovered on 20/4/43 near W. Slagelse. No burial details given."

RAAF letter to R.S. Hogben's father (page 5 of 47 in Hogben's items at National Archives of Australia):
"Despite exhaustive searches and enquiries, it was not possible to establish where your son's aircraft crashed, or whether the bodies of any of the crew members,
other than Flight Sergeant McGlinchy and Sergeant Dixon were ever recovered for burial. - all efforts to locate the graves of Flight Sergeant McGlinchy and Sergeant
Dixon have proved unsuccessful. Apparently the Germans neglected to mark and register the graves of these two members, following the recovery and burial of
their bodies, and they will, unfortunately, now remain buried as unknown airmen." (See also page 11 of 59 of McGlinchy's items).
Both Dixon and McGlinchy were Air Gunners. (Source: Hogben's items p. 7)

No newspapers wrote anything about an air crash "near West Slagelse"! Slagelse (here) is 9 km east of the Storebælt, 17 km north east of the Halsskov crash
site (here). Where did  LAN W4325 crash? Did the 2 airmen bail out "near West Slagelse"? Were they recovered from the sea? What happened to the other 5 airmen?

No. 460 Squadron RAAF - Wikipedia*460 Squadron RAAF*No. 460 Squadron*NAA RecordSearch 460 Squadron*Lancaster photos.
Lancaster I W4325 UV-O took off from RAF Breighton at 21:41 on 20 APR 1943. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) 7 airmen.