Flight Lieutenant Harold Brownlow Morgan Martin DSO, DFC, RAFVR, 23 June 1943. (Australian War Memorial UK0235)
30 April–1 May 1947: Squadron Leader H.B. “Mick” Martin, D.S.O., D.F.C., pilot, and Squadron Leader Edward Barnes “Ted” Sismore, D.S.O., D.F.C., navigator, departed from Heathrow Airport, London, England, at 20:06 D.B.S.T., 30 April, in a Royal Air Force Transport Command de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito PR.34. They flew to Brooklyn Airport, Capetown, South Africa, arriving at 17:35 D.B.S.T., 1 May.
Martin and Sismore with their DH.98 Mosquito at Capetown, South Africa, 1 May 1947.
The total duration of the 6,717 mile (10,810 kilometer) flight was 21 hours, 31 minutes, 30 seconds. This included a 20 minute refueling stop at El Adem, Libya, and a 25 minute stop at Kisumu, Kenya.
Martin and Sismore cut 23 hours, 36 minutes off of the existing record speed for the route set by Flying Officer A.E. Clouston and Mrs. Betty Kirby-Green with a DH.88 Comet, G-ACSS, 14–16 October 1937. ¹
For their record-breaking ² long-distance flight, Martin and Sismore were awarded the Britannia Trophy of the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain.
Flight Lieutenant E.B. Sismore, RAFVR, with a DH.98 Mosquito. (The Telegraph)
Their airplane was a de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito PR.34, a very long range, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft. It was the fastest of all Mosquito variants. The identification of their Mosquito is undetermined.
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was designed and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company, Limited. It was a twin-engine aircraft constructed primarily of wood. The airplane was flown by a pilot and navigator/bombardier. It was produced in bomber, fighter-bomber, night fighter and photo reconnaissance versions.
The PR.34 was 41 feet, 6 inches (13.649 meters) long, with a wingspan of 54 feet, 2 inches (16.510 meters) and overall height of 15 feet, 3 inches (4.648 meters). Its empty weight was 16,630 pounds (7,543 kilograms) and it had a gross weight of 25,500 pounds (11,567 kilograms)
The Mosquito PR.34 was powered by two liquid-cooled, fuel injected and supercharged, 27.01 liter (1,648.96 cubic inch) Rolls-Royce Merlin 113/114 single overhead camshaft 60° V-12 engines which produced 1,430 horsepower at 27,250 feet (8,306 meters) with 18 inches of boost (1.24 Bar). These engines used S.U. single-point fuel injection. The Merlins drove three-bladed de Havilland Hydromatic constant-speed, quick-feathering, propellers with a diameter of 12 feet, 0 inches (3.658 meters) through a 0.420:1 gear reduction. The Merlin 113 weighed 1,650 pounds (748.4 kilograms) while the 114 was slightly heavier, at 1,654 pounds (750.2 kilograms). The 114 drove a second supercharger for cabin pressurization.
The PR.34 had bulged bomb bay doors to accommodate an 869 gallon auxiliary fuel tank and could carry a 200-gallon (909 liter) “slipper” tank under each wing. The total fuel capacity of the London–Capetown Mosquito was was 1,267 Imperial gallons (5,760 liters).
The DH.98 Mosquito PR.34 had a maximum speed of 422 miles per hour (679 kilometers per hour) at 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). Its service ceiling was 43,000 feet (13,106 meters) and it had a range of 3,340 miles (5,375 kilometers).
There were 181 PR.34s built, with 50 of those constructed by the Percival Aircraft Company.
The first Mosquito PR.34, RG176. (Imperial War Museum Catalogue Number ATP 13464B)AM H.B.M. Martin RAF
(Acting) Squadron Leader Mick Martin (later, Air Marshal Sir Harold Brownlow Morgan Martin, K.C.B., D.S.O. and Bar, D.F.C. and Two Bars, A.F.C., Royal Air Force), was one of the few No. 617 Squadron Avro Lancaster bomber pilots who participated in Operation Chastise, the raid on the Ruhr Valley hydroelectric dams in 1943, to survive the war. (He flew ED909/G, AJ P, “Popsie.” Remarkably, his airplane also survived World War II.) Air Marshal Martin retired from the RAF in 1974. He died 3 November 1988 at the age of 70 years.
(Acting) Squadron Leader Ted Sismore (later, Air Commodore Edward Barnes Sismore, D.S.O., D.F.C. and Two Bars, A.F.C., A.E., O.D. (K.), ³ M.B.I.M.), was known as the best long-range low-level navigator in the Royal Air Force. He was the lead navigator for the attack of Amiens Prison, 18 February 1944, and the raid on the Gestapo headquarters at Copenhagen, Denmark in 1945. Air Commodore Sismore retired from the Royal Air Force, 23 June 1976. He died 22 March 2012 at the age of 90 years.
The Britannia Trophy of the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain.
¹ FAI Record File Number 13242
² This flight does not appear to be an official Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record.
³ Order of Dannebrog, Degree of Knight, conferred by His Majesty the King of Denmark, 18 March 1949.
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson presents the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Maynard Harrison Smith, United States Army Air Corps. (U.S. Air Force)
MEDAL OF HONOR
SMITH, MAYNARD H. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 423d Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bomber Group.
Place and date: Over Europe, 1 May 1943.
Entered service at: Caro, Michigan.
Born: 1911, Caro Michigan.
G.O. No.: 38, 12 July 1943.
Medal of Honor
Citation: “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. The aircraft of which Sgt. Smith was a gunner was subjected to intense enemy antiaircraft fire and determined fighter airplane attacks while returning from a mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe on 1 May 1943. The airplane was hit several times by antiaircraft fire and cannon shells of the fighter airplanes, 2 of the crew were seriously wounded, the aircraft’s oxygen system shot out, and several vital control cables severed when intense fires were ignited simultaneously in the radio compartment and waist sections. The situation became so acute that 3 of the crew bailed out into the comparative safety of the sea. Sgt. Smith, then on his first combat mission, elected to fight the fire by himself, administered first aid to the wounded tail gunner, manned the waist guns, and fought the intense flames alternately. The escaping oxygen fanned the fire to such intense heat that the ammunition in the radio compartment began to explode, the radio, gun mount, and camera were melted, and the compartment completely gutted. Sgt. Smith threw the exploding ammunition overboard, fought the fire until all the firefighting aids were exhausted, manned the workable guns until the enemy fighters were driven away, further administered first aid to his wounded comrade, and then by wrapping himself in protecting cloth, completely extinguished the fire by hand. This soldier’s gallantry in action, undaunted bravery, and loyalty to his aircraft and fellow crewmembers, without regard for his own personal safety, is an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.”
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson reads the Citation for the Medal of Honor awarded to Staff Sergeant Maynard Harrison Smith, 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy). (Imperial War Museum, Roger Freeman Collection FRE 4379)
Sergeant Smith was a ball turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress on his first combat mission. The bomber was so badly damaged that, on landing, the airplane’s structure failed from battle damage and it broke in half. There were over 3,500 bullet and shrapnel holes.
Battle damage to the radio operator’s compartment of Boeing B-17F-65-BO 42-29649. The bomber was salvaged 3 May 1943. (U.S. Air Force)
Maynard Harrison Smith was born at Caro, Michigan, 19 May 1911. He was the second child of Henry Harrison Smith, a lawyer, and Mary Christine Gohs Smith, a school teacher.
Smith worked as a clerk in a government insurance office. He married Miss Arlene E. McCreedy at Ferndale, Michigan, 31 July 1929. They had a daughter, Barbara Lou Smith. They divorced 22 October 1932. He later married his second wife, Helene Gene Gunsell, at Caro, Michigan, 30 March 1941.
Maynard Smith enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, 31 August 1941. He was trained as an aerial gunner, and on completion, was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant. He was assigned as a ball turret gunner in a B-17 combat crew of the 423rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy), based at RAF Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, England.
A gunner fires the two Browning .50 caliber machine guns of his electrically-powered Sperry ball turret.
Following the 1 May mission, Staff Sergeant Smith flew only four more combat missions before a medical board diagnosed him with Operational Exhaustion. He was removed from flight status and reverted to his initial rank of private.
While stationed in England, Sergeant Smith met Miss Mary Rayner, a British subject and USO volunteer. They were married in 1944. They would have four children.
Sergeant Smith was released from active duty, 26 May 1945.
Following World War II, Smith worked for the Department of the Treasury. He later founded Police Officers Journal, a magazine oriented toward law enforcement officers.
Based on an examination of certain facts in his life, as well as anecdotes by persons who knew him, it is fair to say the Maynard Smith was a troubled individual. But the extreme courage he displayed on 1 May 1943 cannot be denied.
Maynard Smith died at St. Petersburg, Florida, 11 May 1984 at the age of 72 years. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Staff Sergeant Maynard Harrison Smith, United States Army Air Forces, was the first of only five Air Force enlisted airmen to be awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II. He was also awarded the Air Medal, with one oak leaf cluster (two awards).
This photograph shows SSGT Smith with a Browning Machine Gun, Caliber .50, AN-M2, at the left waist position of a B-17 Flying Fortress. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing B-17F-65-BO Flying Fortress 42-29649 was delivered to Denver, Colorado, 29 January, 1943. After crossing the North Atlantic Ocean, the new bomber was assigned to the 423rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) at RAF Thurleigh, near Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, 24 March 1943. It was identified by the letters RD-V painted on its fuselage.
On 1 May 1943, 42-29649 was one of 18 B-17s of the 306th Bombardment Group assigned to attack German Kriegsmarine submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire, on the Atlantic coast of France. Another 60 B-17s from three other groups were also part of the mission. Only 12 bombers from the 306th arrived over the target, which was heavily obscured by clouds. Each bomber carried two 2,000-pound (907 kilogram) General Purpose bombs, which were dropped from 25,200 feet (7,681 meters) on a heading of 270°. After a 20-second bomb run, the group released its bombs at 11:26 a.m.
Damage to the left side of 42-29649’s radio compartment. (U.S. Air Force)
Flying away from the target area, the 306th flew over the city of Brest at low altitude. 42-29649 was hit by anti-aircraft fire. The group was then attacked by 15–20 Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters. Two bombers were shot down over the city and a third ditched near the coast. -649 caught fire and three crewmen bailed out over the water and were lost.
Of the 78 B-17s dispatched, 7 were lost. 73 crewmembers were listed as Missing in Action, 18 Wounded in Action and 2 Killed in Action.
On 1 May 1943, 42-29649 was flown by Captain Lewis P. Johnson, Jr., aircraft commander/pilot; 1st Lieutenant Robert McCallum, co-pilot; 1st Lieutenant Stanley N. Kisseberth, navigator; Staff Sergeant J.C. Melaun, nose gunner and bombardier; Technical Sergeant William W. Fahrenhold, flight engineer/top turret gunner; Staff Sergeant Maynard H. Smith, ball turret gunner; Technical Sergeant Henry R. Bean, radio operator; Staff Sergeant Robert V. Folliard, waist gunner; Staff Sergeant Joseph S. Bukacek, waist gunner; Sergeant Roy H. Gibson, tail gunner. Sergeants Bean, Folliard and Bukacek were killed in action.
This Boeing B-17F-55-BO Flying Fortress, 42-29524, Meat Hound, was also of the 423rd Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group. 8th Air Force. It is the same type as the B-17F on which Sergeant Smith was the ball turret gunner. (U.S. Air Force)
Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless (132-B-4), of Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 132 (VMSB-132), photographed by Rudy Arnold, circa 1941. (Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, Rudy Arnold Collection, NASM-XRA-0533)
1 May 1940: The first Douglas Aircraft Company SBD-1 Dauntless dive bomber, Bu. No. 1596 (s/n 549), made its first flight at El Segundo, California. The airplane was delivered to the U.S. Navy 6 September 1940. Assigned to Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 234 (VMSB-234) at MCAS Ewa, 7 miles (11 kilometers) west of Pearl Harbor, Oahu,Territory of Hawaii, it ditched in the ocean and was lost, 8 August 1942.
A Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless at the NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, circa 1941. (NASA)
The Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless dive bomber was a single-engine, low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear. It was developed from the Northrop BT-2. The flight crew consisted of a pilot and an aerial gunner. The SBD-1 was 32 feet, 2 inches (9.804 meters) long with a wingspan of 41 feet, 7 inches (12.675 meters) and height of 13 feet, 7 inches (4.140 meters). The wing area was 325 square feet (30.19 square meters). It had an empty weight of 5,903 pounds (2,678 kilograms) and maximum gross weight of 9,790 pounds (4,441 kilograms) with one 1,600 pound (726 kilogram) bomb.
Large, perforated split flaps were used to stabilize the airplane during steep dives.
Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless Bu. No. 1603, assigned to U.S. Marine Corps Bomber Squadron 1 (VMB-1), September 1940. (Douglas Aircraft Company)
The SBD-1 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged R-1820-32 (Wright Aeronautical Corporation R-1820G133 Cyclone) nine-cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.45:1, requiring 100-octane gasoline. It drove a 3-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller with a diameter of 10 feet, 10 inches (3.302 meters) through a 16:11 gear reduction. The R-1820-32 had a normal power rating of 950 horsepower at 2,300 r.p.m. at Sea Level, and 1,000 horsepower at 2,350 r.p.m. for takeoff. The engine was 3 feet, 9.06 inches long (1.145 meters), 4 feet, 7.12 inches (1.400 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,255 pounds (569 kilograms).
A U.S. Marine Corps Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless dive bomber assigned to Marine Bomber Squadron 2 (VMB-2). (U.S. Navy)
In scout configuration (no bombs) the SBD-1 had a maximum speed of 253 miles per hour (407 kilometers per hour at 16,000 feet (4,877 meters). It could reach 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) in 6.6 minutes, and 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) in 15.8 minutes. The service ceiling was 29,600 (9,022 meters). It had a fuel capacity of 180 gallons (681 liters). The airplane’s maximum range was 985 miles (1,585 kilometers) at 142 mph (229 kilometers per hour).
The SBD-1 was armed with two fixed .50-caliber machine guns synchronized to fire forward through the propeller, with 360 rounds of ammunition, and one .30-caliber machine gun on a flexible mount, with 600 rounds of ammunition. It could carry one 1,600 pound (726 kilogram) bomb or one 650 pound (295 kilogram) depth bomb under the fuselage. Two racks under the wings could each carry a 100 pound (45 kilogram) bomb, or a 325 pound (147 kilogram) depth bomb.
The airplane was also ordered by the U.S. Army Air Corps as the A-24 Banshee.
Douglas A-24 Banshee with perforated split flaps deployed. Note the absence of a tail hook. (Douglas Aircraft Company D-8568)
Lockheed XC-35 36-353 in flight. (U.S. Air Force)Headle
1 May 1937: The Lockheed Aircraft Company’s chief test pilot, Marshall Headle, took the Lockheed XC-35, Air Corps serial number 36-353, for its first flight. Ordered by the Air Corps in 1936 as a high-altitude research aircraft, and for the development of cabin pressurization, the XC-35 Supercharged Cabin Transport Airplane was a highly modified Lockheed Electra 10A. It was the first airplane to be specifically built with a pressurized cabin.
The Citizen-News, Hollywood, California, reported:
Mystery Airplane In Air For Tests
The Army’s secretly built stratosphere plane took off on its first test flight today at the Lockheed Aircraft Corp’s factory at Burbank with Marshall Headle, chief test pilot for the company, its sole occupant.
Only routine, low altitude maneuvers were to be carried out today, however, to test the plane’s flying characteristics, and it was expected that high altitude tests would not begin until next week.
Shortly before noon a canvas curtain that was erected about the mystery plane immediately after an unauthorized photograph brought stormy protests from the War Dept., was lowered and the big twin engined, low wing craft rumbled to the end of the factory airport.
A quick sprint and the silver bodied plane was in the air safely.
Company officials continued their silence on performance expected of the military experimental ship.
The XC-35 had been rolled out of the plant several days earlier. It was photographed by a newspaper photographer and the image published in a local newspaper. The photographer had hidden behind bushes on a small hill near the plant. This resulted in an immediate response from the military, with the airplane being hidden behind a canvas enclosure. Armed guards were ordered to “shoot cameras out of the hands of photographers and ask questions afterward—but to destroy all cameras.” There were also roving vehicle patrols, etc. Army intelligence officers interrogated the photographer.
The Army Air Corps was awarded the Collier Trophy for 1937 for the XC-35 project.
With a strengthened circular fuselage and smaller windows, the XC-35′s passenger compartment was pressurized by engine turbo-superchargers and controlled by a flight engineer. Cabin pressure could be maintained at the equivalent of 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) above sea level, at an actual altitude of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters).
Lockheed XC-35 engineer station. (U.S. Air Force)
A crew of three and two passengers were accommodated within the pressurized section, and there was room for another passenger to the rear of the pressure bulkhead, which could only be used at lower altitudes.
Lockheed XC-35 36-353.
The Lockheed XC-35 was similar to the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, with the same dimensions: length, 38 feet, 7 inches (11.760 meters), wingspan 55 feet (16.764 meters), and height, 10 feet, 1 inch (3.073 meters). It had a total wing area of 458.5 square feet (42.596 square meters). The airplane had an empty weight of 7,940 pounds (3,602 kilograms), and gross weight of 10,500 pounds (4,763 kilograms).
The Lockheed XC-35 was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 1,343.804-cubic-inch-displacement (22.021 liter) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-43 (Wasp T5H1) single-row, nine-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6:1. The R-1340-43 had a Normal and Takeoff Power rating of 550 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. from Sea Level to 3,000 feet (914 meters), burning 92-octane gasoline. It was direct drive. The engine was 3 feet, 6.25 inches (1.073 meters) long, 4 feet, 3.50 inches (1.308 meters) in diameter, and weighed 864 pounds (392 kilograms). The engines drove two-bladed, variable pitch propellers.
The XC-35 had a cruise speed of 214 miles per hour (344 kilometers per hour), and maximum speed of 236 miles per hour (380 kilometers per hour) at 20,000 feet (6,096 meters). It could climb at a rate of 1,125 feet per minute (5.7 meters per second), and its service ceiling was 31,500 feet (9,601 meters).
Able to fly above 30,000 feet (9,144 meters), the XC-35 was later used by NACA for thunderstorm penetration research flights. In 1948 it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution.
