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206281 Flt Sgt. (Nav) Sidney Smith Royal Air Force 514 Squadron (d.5th Mar 1945) Sidney Smith was my uncle. Although he died almost ten years before I was born and my mother spoke very little about him. Therefore, I only have a few family tales to relate but one poignantly is that he wrote home from training in Canada to say that flying was so wonderful, it was worth dying for. Family history is that he lied about his age so that he could enlist into the RAF.
Tragically he and his crew-mates were killed towards the end of the War. I have been told that they flew a Wellington although I am not confident that is correct. They were shot down over Belgium and the crew were buried there together.
Much more than that I do not know. He had spent his childhood in an orphanage and was, I understand, a strong character. He had not long turned 21 when he died. We do have a lovely photograph of him walking arm-in-arm with two pretty girls, he is in RAF uniform. Additional Information: | Flight Sergeant Sidney Smith's Lancaster of 514 Sqdn, Bomber Command, NN774JI-F2, crashed in my village Bunsbeek near to Tienen in Belgium on 5-3-1945 returning from a mision; GH attack on the Consoliation benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen GE.
The plane toke off from Waterbeach in England at 1035 hours, the crew died in the crash en are buried in Heverlee (Leuven): -
F/O H G S Kerr pilot
- Sgt. W Marsden
- Sgt. F Clarke
- F/Sgt. Allan Olsen
- Sgt. C G Hogg
- Sgt H Percival.
Bruyninckx André
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| I am the nephew of Sidney Smith, and inherited his worldly belongings through my mother. Sidney, who I never knew, nevertheless had a strong place in my life, as he was very close to my mother, his elder sister, and she spoke often of him. They were brought up together in an orphanage, and my mother was his replacement mother. Sidney trained in Canada, and I believe joined 514 squadron at its formation. He was the navigator on Lancasters, and I have seen from his letters how he considered himself lucky to be flying. I have been several times to pay homage at his grave, most recently this year (2015) to commemorate 70 years since his death. The cemetery is a place of rest and quiet, and wonderfully maintained. Sidney's name is indeed still living in my family, and his memories are being passed down to my children and grandchildren. Jeffrey Temple
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