Source:
www.385thbga.com
| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | Boeing |
| Production-Block: | , B-17F-85-BO: 42-30032 to 42-30131 |
| Operational History | |
|---|---|
| Bomb Group: | , 385th Bomb Group |
| Bomb Squadron: | , 549th Bomb Squadron |
| RCL: | XA-J |
| MACR: | 4403 |
| Fate: |
, Failed to return (30 November 1943) |
History of
B-17 42-30096 / Liberty Belle
Delivered Denver 9/4/43; Gore 10/4/43; Denver 29/4/43; Glasgow 3/5/43; Kearney 29/5/43; Dow Fd 15/6/43; Assigned 549BS/385BG [XA-J] Gt Ashfield 26/6/43; Missing in Action Solingen 30/11/43 with Capt Bob Smith (WIA), Co-pilot: Paul Lindsay, replacement Co-pilot: Jim McKee (KIA), Navigator: Nathan Ungar (KIA), Bombardier: Chas Stevens (KIA), Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Sam Litt (KIA); Radio Operator: Edwin Randig, Ball turret gunner: Troy Roberts, Waist gunner: Henry Lohff, Waist gunner: George Lilburn,Tail gunner: Lou Lonsway (RTD), small fire aboard caused by flare igniting followed by explosion, crashed Penlan Hall, Wakes Colne, near Colchester, Ex, UK, close to Wormingford a/fd; Missing Air Crew Report 4403. LIBERTY BELLE.
Information may include corrections and additions based on Jing’s research.
3,526 Aufrufe
This page was last updated on 18 September 2017
21. April 2025 access_time 0:45
I met with Pilot of Liberty Belle, Robert Smith in 1992. I was instrumental in reuniting Bob with some of the British Land Army girls who went to Bob’s aid when he came down in a Wakes Colne field badly injured. November 30, 1943. It’s an amazing story.
21. July 2026 access_time 8:59
I am Lt Col Robert Clarke Smith’s daughter. I know that his return to England and his meeting with the four English ladies that saved him, was a very important moment for him and his family. Thank you so much for any help you may have given him. He never talked about the war, but I have learned significantly more lately , especially since I have been studying our family history which has many generations in England,, Scotland and Wales. Being a quiet patriot , he never talked about his own heroism , but said to me that the British people were very brave. He was a very funny man and used humor, I think, to mask a lot of painful memories of the horrors of war. Please remember alll these men who saved the world.
17. August 2026 access_time 3:53
My uncle was Paul Lindsay, the co-pilot, who was grounded after the mission on 29 November 1943 coughing up blood on landing (tuberculosis). Which is why Jim McKee was the copilot on that fateful day. My uncle didn’t talk about the war either.