SMITH, James Henry

Name: James Henry SMITH

Born  28 December 1918

Birthplace: Denver, Colorado

Age at arrival in Buchenwald: 25

Died 18 November 1976 in Corvina Hills, California, age 57

Service:  USAAF

Service ID: O-698929

Service Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Duties: Bombardier

Air Group: 8th Air Force, 493rd Bomb Group, 862nd Bomb Squadron

Airbase: Debach, Suffolk UK

Aircraft: B-24 42-52759

Date shot down: 22 June 1944

Fate of crew: 3 captured immediately, 6 evaded; of those, 3 were captured (HORRIGAN, JH Smith, and PAXTON.

Evasion summary:

Date captured: 15 July 1944

Capture summary: Desoubrie and Orsini went to Chartres to pick up Smith, HORRIGAN, and PAXTON. Back to Paris, and this time to Villa Voisin. All were arrested the next day.

Boxcar Transport: 15-20 August 1944, in boxcar #1 or #2

Buchenwald ID: 78323

Notes on Buchenwald internment:

Transferred from Buchenwald to: Stalag Luft III, NorthCompound

Kriege ID: 8154

Notes on SLIII internment:

Subsequent transfer to: Stalag XIII-D, Nurnberg.

Notes on internment: Forced march and boxcar to Stalag VIIA 2-16 April 1945.

Liberation: 29 April 1945 by units of the 14th Armored Division from Patton’s Third Army.

Repatriation from ETO:

Discharged:

VA status:

Notes on Post-War period: