Smith, Matthew Muirhead (Flight Sergeant)

Killed in Action 1945-June-09

Flight Sergeant Matthew Muirhead Smith RCAF

Birth Date: 1925-January-24

Born:

Parents: Son of Matthew Anderson Smith and Jessie Craig Smith, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Spouse:

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RCAF

Unit

160 Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Api Soya Paragasamu We seek and strike

Base

Rank

Flight Sergeant

Position

Air Gunner

Service Numbers

R/292956

Home
Google MapToronto, Ontario
Final Burial
Google MapCommonwealth War Graves Colombo-Jawatta
3 G 4
160 Burma Squadron (Api Soya Paragasamu). Liberator aircraft crashed. Addendum: Liberator aircraft BZ 950 took off for a secret destination, nine minutes later the aircraft crashed at Minneriya, Ceylon whilst returning to the airfield. Crew and passengers, NO. W.L. Knight, Sgt. A.R. Thomson, LAC.s J.C. Cameron (RAF), L.S. Holmes (RAF), J.V.H. Kitchener (RAF), E.J. Long (RAF), L.J. Schiller (RAF), F/0.s H.W. Daniels (RAF), J.P. Hynes (RAAF), W. Sykes (RAF), FS.s D. Davenport (RAF), E.G. Wood (RAF), Cpl.s R.W. Hubbard (RAF), T.J. O'Riordon (RAF), Sgt.s D. Lumley (RAF), I.P. Taylor (RAF), AC1.s F.C.M Sage (RAF), and W.C. Stewart (RAF) were also killed.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Liberator BZ950

Flying Officer Wilfred Leslie Knight RCAF

Flying Officer Knight, Wilfred Leslie (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-June-09
Commonwealth War Graves Colombo-Jawatta, Torrington Avenue, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Flight Sergeant Matthew Muirhead Smith RCAF

Flight Sergeant Smith, Matthew Muirhead (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-June-09
Commonwealth War Graves Colombo-Jawatta, Torrington Avenue, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Flight Sergeant Andrew Robin Thomson RCAF

Flight Sergeant Thomson, Andrew Robin (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-June-09
Commonwealth War Graves Colombo-Jawatta, Torrington Avenue, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Liberator serial: BZ950

(DND Photos via James Craik) (Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Consolidated Liberator G.R. Mk. VIII, RCAF (Serial No. 11130) ex-USAAF Consolidated (Vultee) B-24L Liberator USAAF (44-50154)
ex-RAF (Serial No. 5009), ex-Indian Air Force (Serial No. HE773).
Currently preserved in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Ottawa Ontario.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber flown by the RCAF during the Second Word War. It was designed with a shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing which gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling compared with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of the roughly 18,500 B-24s built in the USA during the war, 148 were flown by the RCAF on long range anti-submarine patrols, with the B-24 serving an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCAF also flew a few B-24s post war as transports.

Roughly half of all (RAF) Liberator crews in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre were Canadian by the end of the war. John Muir of Vancouver flew the longest mission of the war: 24hrs, 10mins from Ceylon to Burma and back. (Kyle Hood) Harold Skaarup web page


YouTube Liberator bomber

Wikipedia Wikipedia Liberator bomber

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page