William Ian Desmond SMITH

1920 - 1944  (24 years)

• Name	William Ian Desmond SMITH  [1, 2, 3]
  Birth	21 Jul 1920	Woodville, Gordon Road, Camberley, Surrey, England   [1, 2, 3]
  	SMITH, WILLIAM IAN DESMOND MOTHER MCGHEE GRO Reference: 1920 S Quarter in FARNHAM Volume 02A Page 245
  Gender	Male
  1939 Register	1939	107 Upper Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England   [2]
  	Clerical Officer Ordnance Survey
  Commonwealth War Grave	21 Sep 1944	Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, Belgium
  	154319, Flying Officer William Ian Desmond Smith, 271 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
  _MILT	21 Sep 1944	Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, England   [3]
  	154319, Flying Officer (Navigator) William Ian Desmond Smith, 271 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
  Death	21 Sep 1944	Ramskappelle, Nieuwpoort, Belgium   [3]
  Person ID	I978	Ordnance Survey People
  Last Modified	2 May 2026

  
  

  Father	Angus Francis Andrew SMITH,   b. 19 Sep 1891, Lanarkshire, Scotland
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Mary Margaret MCGHEE,   b. Abt 1900
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F3459	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  William Ian Desmond Smith was born on 21 July 1920 in Farnham, Surrey the child of Angus Francis Smith and Mary Margaret Smith (McGhee). The 1939 Register records William as a Clerical Officer, Ordnance Surveyliving at 107 Upper Grosvenor, Road, Tunbridge Wells. Desmond was the navigator on Dakota KG512. The aircraft was shot down by flak near Ramskappelle when returning to base at RAF Down Ampney, Gloucestershire after delivering frieght to Brussels airport. SMITH, WILLIAM IAN DESMOND Flying Officer 154319 21/09/1944 23 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve United Kingdom VI. E. 11. ADEGEM CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/batt_271.htm

  
  

• Sources

  [S10] Ancestry.com, England & Wales, Birth Index, 1916-2005, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008;), General Register Office; United Kingdom; Reference: Volume 2a, Page 245. Record for William I D Smith http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=8782&h=45086562&indiv=try [S194] Ancestry.com, 1939 England and Wales Register, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2018;), The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/1776H. Record for William J D Smith http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=61596&h=16728827&indiv=try [S304] Ancestry.com, UK, World War II Index to Allied Airmen Roll of Honour, 1939-1945, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2021;), Naval and Miltiary Press; Uckfield, East Sussex, England; Airmen Died in the Second World War 1939-45. Record for William Ian Desmond Smith https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=62274&h=125825&indiv=try