• Short Stirling

Date of birth:

March 7th, 1923 (Maitland/South Australia)

Date of death:

June 23rd, 1943 (North Sea)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Graves Protestant Cemetery Castricum
Plot: J. Grave: 5.

Service number:

416630

Nationality:

Australian (1901-present, Federal Monarchy)

On June 23rd 1943 the Stirling MK II bomber of 218 Squadron (RAF) piloted by Flt Sgt Jimmy Smith was attacked by enemy aircraft and subsequently crashed into the North Sea. Only one crew member from a crew of seven survived and was taken prisoner. Jimmy’s body was washed up on the shore close to Castricum where it was buried in the church cemetery. Jimmy was the second youngest of a family of six, three boys and three girls. The family farmed wheat and sheep near the town of Keith in South Australia. Jimmy enlisted on the 21st of July 1941 two months after his older brother Colin, an ambulance officer in the Australian Army, had been killed during the siege of Tobruk in North Africa. Jimmy’s parents were reluctant to agree to their eighteen year old joining up but he insisted as he wished not only to join the war effort but to avenge his brothers death. Jimmy did his initial flying training in Australia, receiving his Flying Badge in February 1942 before leaving Australia for England in June 1942. He arrived in England in August 1942. He underwent advanced flying training in England prior to being posted to 218 Squadron in April 1943. While Jimmy died on June 23rd 1943 it was to be 4 years when in June 1947 his family finally received confirmation of his death and the location of his grave at Castricum following the exhumation of his body by the Missing Research and Enquiry Unit. Jimmy’s parents had lived in hope during those years that he may have been taken prisoner or had survived the crash and was alive somewhere in Europe. The parents never recovered from the loss of two of their sons during the WW2 and their once thriving farming business suffered as the parents struggled to cope with their loss. In 1995 Jimmy’s surviving siblings were contacted and invited to attend the 50th Anniversary Remembrance Day at Castricum. Unfortunately no one from the family in Australia was able to attend the function. The dedication of the people of the Castricum to preserving Jimmy’s memory has bought great comfort to the family.

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• Photo 1: Family J.B.H. Smith
• Photo 2: TracesOfWar.com
• - Family J.B.H. Smith
  - Letter of Australian Government, Departement of Defence
  - Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  

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