Studio portrait of 403380 Flying Officer (FO) James Alexander 'Alec' Saint-Smith DFM, RAAF ...

Studio portrait of 403380 Flying Officer (FO) James Alexander 'Alec' Saint-Smith DFM, RAAF attached to 627 Squadron RAF. Early in his career FO Saint-Smith served as an NCO pilot in 460 Squadron, RAAF, flying Lancasters, and later as an officer with 627 Squadron RAF, flying Mosquitos. As a flight sergeant he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in March 1943 for gallantry in a mission over Berlin. He was the captain of the Australian War Memorial's Avro Lancaster 'G for George' (W4789) on its first operational sortie to Mannheim in Germany, on 6 December 1942. He flew the aircraft on another 12 occasions, using it as his regular aircraft for the remainder of his tour, which ended in March 1943. During a second tour of operations with 327 Squadron RAF, Saint-Smith was killed in action on 29 June 1944, on his 73rd operation, when his Mosquito IV (DZ516), crashed near Vaulx, Belgium. He and his navigator, Flying Officer Geoffrey Ernest Heath DFC, DFM, RAAF (who as an NCO had served as Saint-Smith's navigator throughout his first tour of operations, with 460 Squadron) are now buried at Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension in France. FO Saint-Smith was posthumously awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross on 24 August 1944 for his ‘conspicuous gallantry and determination' in successfully completing numerous sorties over Germany and France with 627 Squadron.