Leonard James Smith

In memoriam

Time Passes But Memories Never Fade

Casualty of WWII, Leonard was a Flight Sergeant/Air Gunner with 148 Sqdn. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve ~ Service No:1335857. He was 22 and the son of James and Margaret Smith; husband Of Ethel Annie Smith of Coventry. He was reported missing after Air Operations in the Mediterranean War Area in Bata Record on 21st July 1944 He died on Tuesday 4th July 1944, aged 22. A Leading Aircraftman in the R.A.F. he wrote to the Bata Record in June 1943 to say that he had completed his training for Air Crew and should pass out soon. Leonard Smith was first employed by the British Bata Shoe Company on 9th March, 1936 leaving previous employment with Tilbury Estates. He left the Bata Shoe Factory at East Tilbury to join the R.A.F. in May 1941 at the age of 19 after working there for 5 years. He worked in the Leather Factory. He was married to Ethel Percy from Tilbury, who was a fellow Bata employee. Between 1943 and 1945, No. 148 Squadron RAF carried out Special Duties on behalf of the Special Operations Executive. Operating first out of North Africa and later from Brindisi in S. Italy, the Squadron dropped supplies and agents to Allied forces behind enemy lines in S. Europe, the Balkans and as far up as Warsaw, Poland in Central Europe3-4 July 1944 No. 148 Squadron lost no fewer than four aircraft, all Halifax's, on the night of 3-4.7.44: one over Budapest; the other three – including JP292, Leonard Smith's aircraft – in the vicinity of Sombor in Yugoslavia. Crashed During A Special Operations Supply Drop to Poland

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