Oral History Interview with Lewis A. Smith, October 3, 2012
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Oral History Interview with Lewis A. Smith, October 3, 2012 (Sound)
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Lewis A. Smith. Born in 1924, he joined the Army Air Force in 1942. After twenty-two months of flight training at various locations, he flew a B-17 aircraft to Scotland. He was sent to England and assigned to the 385th Bombardment Group at Great Ashfield station 155. He describes a mission to bomb the airfield at Grossostheim, Germany during the Battle of the Bulge as well as a mission to bomb Berlin. He tells a story about a mid-air collision involving two other planes that occurred during a mission to bomb a tank factory in Ulm, Germany. Only the tail gunner, Joe Jones, survived the collision. He also describes engine problems and an emergency crash landing when he was returning from a mission to Frankfurt, Germany. He discusses flak; flak suits; the experience of flying a B-17 airplane on a bombing mission; some of the specific planes that he flew; USO entertainment; and buzz bombs. He shares an anecdote about his tail gunner and the relief tube on a mission to bomb an oil refinery in Hamburg, Germany. He left the Air Force in 1945 after flying thirty-five missions in six months of combat.
Oral History Interview with Lewis A. Smith, October 3, 2012 - ark:/67531/metapth1610074
Oral History Interview with Lewis A. Smith, October 3, 2012, text, October 3, 2012; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606308/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.