Memorial

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T/Sgt Ralph W. Smith worked on a farm.

He joined the Air Corps of the Regular Army in Montgomery, Alabama on 5 July 1940.

The aircraft was apparently hit directly by a shell, which did not burst on contact. About 8 or 9 feet of the right wing was cut off. There was a flash where the flak hit but no fire visible thereafter. After being hit, the aircraft peeled to the right, turned over on its back and went down out of control. It was in a sort of spin. It appeared to break apart at the wings, the fuselage separating from the wings. When it was last seen, the wings were still in a sort of spin. The aircraft was not seen to catch on fire.

One parachute was reported coming from the aircraft, but what part of the aircraft it came from was not reported.

Three crew members survived and were taken prisoner, and six were killed.

The bodies of the deceased crew members were disinterred from a common grave near Ladbergen, Germany. All identification and personal effects were removed by personnel of the German army and sent to Frankfurt-am-Main.

According to Sgt Klimoski, who was one of the surviving crew members, Sgt Smith probably couldn't get out of the aircraft because of the centrifugal force or because of injuries.

Sgt Smith was given his final resting place at Margraten on 9 May 1950.