Smith, James Alvin Died

Back

Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) James Alvin
Surname Smith
Gender M
Age 27
Date of Death 21-07-1944
Next of Kin Son of Andrew Godfrey Smith and Jean Smith (née Irving) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
SMITH JA 369

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number MZ352
Markings NP-K

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place St. Hellier Churchyard
Grave Reference Coll. grave.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 243
SMITH JA 369

Location

Row -
Panel 243
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 2
Panel Number 243

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/22369
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 158
Squadron Motto Strength in unity
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location St. James of Compostola Church, Lissett, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone & Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Memorial to 158 Sqn, RAF Lissett 28th February 1943 - 17th August 1946
Location St. James of Compostola Church, Lissett, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window & Inscribed Metal Plaques
Memorial Text A stained glass window in memory of 158 Sqn RAF
Location Adjacent to former airfield, Lissett, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Metal Sculpture, Wind Turbines & Info Board
Memorial Text 12 wind turbines named after Halifax Bombers of 158 Sqn and groundcrew who were killed on 2nd July 1943
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Gardens, Propeller, Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text In everlasting homage to the courage of those who have found their winged victory through the skies of Yorkshire
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text They made the supreme sacrifice so that you & I may go in peace with freedom. 4 Group 1939 - 1945.
Location Heslington Hall, York, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Heslington Hall 1941 - 1945, 4 Gp Headquarters Bomber Command. In remembrance of those Air & Ground personnel who made the supreme sacrifice that we all may walk in peace with freedom

Miscellaneous Information

James was born at Wingham, Ontario on 7 April 1917. His father was born at Kincardine, Ontario and was a Sales Manager and also the editor and publisher of the Wingham Advance Times. His mother was born in Lucknow, Ontario. He had a brother Andrew Irving and a sister Edythe Euphemia. He attended Allenby Public School, Toronto,1925- 1933 and North Toronto Collegiate Institute 1933-1937. He then went to Northern vocational 1937-1938 studying a special course in Accountancy. His sport interests were baseball, hockey, rugby and lacrosse. He was particularly good at rugby. James was a Salesman at Imrie Brothers, 1938-1940 and then during the summer of 1940 he gave Physical Instruction at the Board of Education. He was then Paymaster and Secretary at Insulation Products Ltd in Toronto from 1940 until enlisting on 3 November 1941.
After training James was posted to the U.K. where he disembarked at 3PRC. He then went to 10 (0) AFU on 22 June 1943, 20 OTU 3 August 1943, 1652 CU on 27 October 1943 and to 158 Squadron 15 April 1944. James sadly lost his life on 21 July 1944.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1049/14
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1049/14

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Name Outcome
Ashford C M (Sgt) Died
Bellhouse E W (F/S) Died
Craze H E L (Sgt) Died
Platten J A (F/L) Died
Upper B P (P/O) Died
Whitham J H (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 20-07-1944
End Date 21-07-1944
Takeoff Station Lissett
Day/Night Raid Night (1% moon)
Operation Ardouval- to attack a flying bomb site. 87 aircraft, 1 lost. Less than half of the force were able to bomb the target
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed close to the target, possibly due to extremely poor weather conditions
Start new losses database search Back
 
 
 
 

Please Wait

Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.